Traditional Woodworking Handtools (PREVIEW)

THE ILLUSTRATED WORKSHOP | VOLUME 2

Traditional

WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS A Manual for the Woodworker

GRAHAM BLACKBURN

Traditional

WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS A MANUAL FOR THE WOODWORKER

written & illustrated by

Graham Blackburn Handtools are rightfully making their way back into workshops everywhere.

When considering that much of the best woodwork ever crafted – Chippendale, Hepplewhite, and Federal, to name a few – was accomplished exclusively by hand and that the exploding maker movement thrives on the joy of hands-on crafting, this trend back to handtools is not at all surprising.

With traditional woodworking handtools, Gr aham Blac kbur n continues what he began with the illustrated encyclopedia of handtools, Devices & instruments and delivers the definitive user’s guide explaining the purpose and the method of operation for every essential handtool.

Ideal for both the active woodworker seeking to augment a shop of power tools and the enthusiastic beginner just learning the craft, traditional woodworking handtools i s a manual that can be read in any order as one experiments and discovers the accuracy and versatility of tried and true handtools.

Best of all, traditional woodworking handtools is not only a valuable addition to any crafter’s technical knowledge, it offers fascinating historical insight and a greater appreciation of the ingenuity and beauty of handtools.



TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS A MANUAL FOR THE WOODWORKER

written & illustrated by G R A H A M B L AC K B U R N

SP RIN G HO U SE PRESS

     :           I

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

* CONTENTS Introdu ion: Tried & True . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi

* i holding tools 1

The Classic Workbench: Wooden-screw Vises & Sliding Deadmen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2

Clamps, Cramps, & Pin Vises: Getting a Grip on Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3

Miter Trimming: Devices to Ensure Accuracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

* ii setting-out tools 4

Measuring & Marking Tools: Making Your Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

5

The Square: Normal Perfection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

6

Bevels: Anything But Square . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

7

Gauges: Stock & Stem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

� viii �

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

* iii sawing tools 8

Handsaws: A Quieter Approach to Lumber Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

9

Sawfitting & Sawing: Sharp Teeth Bite Best . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

10

Framed Saws: Life Before the Bandsaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

11

Backed Saws: Strengthened, Supported, & Reinforced Blades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

* iv planes 12

A Plane from the Pa : Clues to a Wooden Plane’s Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

13

Bench Planes: The First Family of Handtools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

14

Successful Plane Racing: Odds-on Favorites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

15

Scrub, Jack, & Jointer: Stock Preparation by Hand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

16

The Smooth Plane: Evaluating a Forgotten Icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

17

The Jack Plane: Versatile & Masterful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

18

Block, Miter, Bullnose, & Chariot: Distant Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

19

The Rabbet Plane: Rabbet or Rebate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

20

The Dado Plane: ‘Madox Redividus’ or, An Amazing Discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

21

The Plough: Prince of Handtools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

22

Sash Filli ers: The Uncommonest Fillister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

23

Match Planes: Made for Each Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

24

Badgers & Panel Raisers: Wildlife in the Quiet of the Countryside . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

25

Moulding Planes: Woodworking’s Largest Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

26

Hollows & Rounds: Most Common & Inscrutable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

27

Beading Planes: Beads, Reeds, & Cluster Beads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

� ix �

CONTENTS

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

* v edge tools 28

Adzes, Axes, & Hatchets: The Ancestral Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

29

The Scraper: A Tool from the Dawn of History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

30

Old Chisels: The Search for Excellence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

31

The Mortise Chisel: Still the Best Method in Certain Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

32

Carving Tools: A Thousand Tools for a Thousand Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

33

Spokeshaves, Shaves, & Drawknives: The Taming of the Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

34

Pre-ele ric Routers: The Old Woman’s Tooth and All Her Children . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

35

Chamfering Devices: ‘Cantus Frangere’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

* vi boring tools 36

Boring Tools: Bradawls to Beam Borers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

37

Bits & Pieces: More than Boring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

38

Threading Tools: Screw Boxes & Wood Taps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

* vii miscellaneous tools 39

Striking Tools: ‘Hammar’ & ‘Malleus’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

40

Bench-top Accessories: The Secret Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

CONTENTS

�x�

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

* appendices Sele Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352 Tool Associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357 Tool Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357 Tool Au ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

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� xi �

CONTENTS

HOLDING TOOLS

1

THE CLASSIC WORKBENCH WOODEN-SCREW VISES

I

& SLIDING DEADMEN

T WAS WHILE MOVING MY SHOP THAT I WAS FORCED INTO A CONSIDERATION OF ALL THE EXTRA STUFF THAT SEEMS TO ACCUMULATE BETWEEN MOVES . SINCE IT IS HARD

FOR ME TO WORK IN A DISORGANIZED ENVIRONMENT MY SHOP IS GENERALLY QUITE

neat and I think I know what is what and where everything is, but it is truly a onishing how much extra creeps in and becomes forgotten until something as radical as a move forces it out into the open.

THE DISAPP EARING BENCH IT IS EASY TO UNDERSTAND HOW AN EXTRA

screwdriver or two picked up at a yard sale and thrown into a drawer can become quickly forgotten, and how one soon loses track of numerous other small items acquired here and there, but a bench is another matter. Even

small workbenches are sub antial obje s and difficult to overlook, yet I had become oblivious to the fa that my shop now housed an extra, 81/2 ft.-long, antique cabinetmaker’s bench! It sounds impossible, especially when you consider that my old shop was not much bigger than a two-car garage, but somehow the bench had disappeared from view, and I was quite taken by surprise when I began packing and uncovered this large behemoth lurking in the shadows.

‘Uncovered’ is, of course, the operative word here. The extra bench had been acquired several years earlier as a re oration proje and eventual incorporation into my regular workspace. The usual press of day-to-day business had delayed the

2

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS proposed re oration, and in the meantime the bench had been used fir as an extra work surface, and then as an extra orage surface, finally to disappear completely under a welter of boxes containing painting supplies, carving samples, special hardware, scales, glue containers, cans of linseed oil and tung oil, lacquer thinner, boxes of roofing nails, a big shop fan, and my emergency ele ric heater. I had ere ed a temporary shelf above the bench for jars of assorted nuts, bolts, washers, and screws, and had rapidly filled the space below with boxes of rags and other finishing supplies. One end of the bench had become completely obscured with automotive equipment that I was forced to keep in the shop, and the other end had been pressed into service as a convenient place to re a colle ion of wooden sash-clamps that had unexpe edly come my way.

The result of all this was that the bench had literally vanished from sight.

I have always loved tools for their own sake, but I have never admitted to being a tool colle or. I try to abide by the self-imposed rule that if I have not used something in the la two years it is time to get rid of it; I need the space to work in.

Furthermore, I am very happy with my regular bench, a large European model of classic design, which I periodically resurface and refinish. The fa that I had completely forgotten about the very exi ence of the antique bench originally slated for re oration seemed adequate proof of the fa that it was not really needed and should be disposed of, according to rule. This decided, I went about the awful business of packing everything else into boxes, trying very hard to be conscientious about labeling, and forgot about the bench for the moment, sure that when the time came I would have no trouble finding a home for such a desirable item.

The days passed, and gradually the old shop grew emptier since I was not moving far and could take things bit by bit. Slowly, the antique bench was revealed in greater relief again the denuded walls until finally it was the only thing left in the otherwise vacant space. It ood there in

all its magnificence, its ancient patina glowing in the deserted shop, looking larger than ever, and I could not avoid examining it more closely than I had before. As its presence grew more powerful, it became more difficult to do anything about disposing of it. This was no ordinary bench, no mere convenient extra work surface for the occasional helper or udent, this was a king among benches, and I remembered how excited I had been when I fir saw it.

It had been a completely serendipitous find. I had been helping a friend move out of an old house, and the bench, which had been there when he had fir moved in, now had to go as part of the general clearing out for the new owner. To my friend it had been no more than a cumbersome obje to be dealt with, but I had seen it not only as something to do with woodworking — which always arouses my intere — but also as something obviously very old and of great potential use in my own shop. At that moment there had been no time to do more than quickly move it, and its subsequent fate, after a few more moves on my part, has been explained above. Now I looked at it more carefully and my resolve began to waver.

It was, as already mentioned, 8½ ft. long. Apart from the extra labor involved in the resurfacing of such a large bench — necessary from time to time as changing moi ure conditions move the surface out of absolute flatness — a large bench is much to be preferred over a smaller one, unless you are forever dedicated to the fabrication of tiny jewelry boxes. It not only provides good working space and support for planing long and wide boards, but is also invaluable for assembly, especially of things with legs that mu all be referenced off the same flat surface.

VISES : TAIL , END , FACE ,

&

LEG

CABINETMAKER ’ S BENCHES HAVE EVOLVED

over the la two hundred years into a fairly andard form di inguished by being equipped with a pair of vises: one at the right-hand end (as

3

THE CLASSIC WORKBENCH

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS Guide arms

Garter

The garter is flushmortised into the back of the face jaw, and engages a threadless section of the wooden screw.

The wooden screw is threaded into a tapped block secured to the bench.

fig. 2 wooden garter

ca -iron piece (see fig. 3). Once located, it is usually quite obvious how it is, or ought to be, attached, and all that is necessary is to see that it, like the guide arms, is securely in place and will allow the screw to turn with the minimum of play, possibly with the help of a little lubrication: grease in the case of a metal garter, and wax in the case of a wooden garter.

The screws themselves, unless they have deformed severely, are usually perfe ly adequate for their task even if they have lo a few threads.

If they appear beyond repair, and the re of the bench warrants it, turn to chapter 38, which describes the tools for making the wooden threads that were used on a variety of obje s, including the large wooden ones common on cabinetmaker’s benches.

The above holds true for all bench vises: tail, face, and leg. Leg vises, however, because of their extra size, are usually provided with an additional adju ment at their foot. There are various ways in which the foot of the leg vise may be held securely so that the face of the vise remains parallel to the face of the bench no matter how widely the vise is opened, including some

ingenious patented devices consi ing of scissorlike adju ments, but the commone method is a simple bar or beam, fixed to the face of the vise in the same way as the guide arms. The beam runs through a slot usually formed in the leg of the bench, and is bored with a series of holes so that a pin may be inserted at the appropriate point maintaining the vise’s parallelism with the bench (see fig. 4).

Once the vise opens and closes properly, its top surface mu be made perfe ly flush with the top of the bench. This is part and parcel of properly dressing the bench top. Depending on the condition of the bench and the degree of flattening and refinishing necessary, this may be accomplished with the judicious use of a pair of winding icks (as described in chapter 17) in conjun ion with a power hand-planer, a jointer plane, a smooth plane, or nothing more than a scraper. I would like to corre the often-held erroneous belief that refinishing a bench top as old as the one under discussion — which apart from much needed truing was grievously covered with old paint, globs of glue, and other embedded

5

(Guide arms omitted for clarity)

The part on the face jaw engages the threadless section of the wooden screw.

The part attached to the bench engages the wooden screw’s threads.

fig. 3 metal garter THE CLASSIC WORKBENCH

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

The bored bar attached to the bottom of the leg vise runs through the bench leg and is held in position by a removable peg.

fig. 4 leg vise adjustment

bits of debris — con itutes wanton de ru ion of valuable patina, since if the bench had remained in the hands of a diligent craftsman from the day it was made it would never have been allowed to develop such a shameful ‘patina’ in the fir place.

But note that proper refinishing does not mean

sanding the surface clean and applying a coat of polyurethane, as is so often done by misguided, over-zealous antique shops and other ‘re orers’.

Sandpaper should never touch a bench top for fear of loose grains of abrasive damaging finely sharpened cutting edges, and polyurethane is a hideously inappropriate finish.

The inside surfaces of the vises, as well as those parts of the bench again which the vise closes, should all be maintained in a smooth and closely matching condition. A badly abused vise may have its inside face built up with additional wood to re ore its corre planar relationship to the bench. It also helps to glue thin pieces of card to these surfaces. The card, which is easily replaced when it deteriorates, not only prote s the jaws of the vise but can also prevent the denting or damaging of soft pieces clamped in the vise. For real prote ion of a freshly finished workpiece it helps to glue pieces of baize, felt, or even carpet to the inside of the jaws.

The antique bench in my shop needed a little of all the attention described above, but basically its massive tail vise and handsome, full-length leg vise were ill as effe ive as on the day they were made. But there was more. Benches have not always had vises, and many of the holding devices that were used before vises became common may ill be incorporated to good effe on modern

Peg A long board held in the face vise is supported at its other end by a peg in the deadman.

Freestanding deadman, held in tail vise

fig. 5 freestanding deadman HOLDING TOOLS

6

HOLDING TOOLS

2

CLAMPS CRAMPS & PIN VISES GETTING A GRIP ON THINGS

A

COMMON WOODWORKING ADAGE STATES : YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY CLAMPS .

THE TRU TH OF THIS IS PROBABLY THE RESULT OF A CLAMP GENERALLY BEING PERCEIVED AS A LESS GLAMOROUS AND EXCITING TOOL TO BUY THAN A NEW PLANE ,

powertool, or machine. Its memorability on the other hand is doubtless the result of discovering its truth right at the moment when one is in the middle of a clamping-up job and realizes there are indeed not enough clamps in the shop to do the job properly. And yet, in any shop that has been in exi ence any longer than for a very short time, the number of pipe clamps and bar clamps visible is certain to be awe-inspiring to a novice, who simply cannot imagine what all those long things are needed for.

There is not much that can be done completely freehand in woodworking. Even if we dispense with guides and jigs, it is almo impossible to do anything with any degree of accuracy unless what

we are working on is firmly secured in place. Even a very sharp plane taking a very thin shaving will push a surprisingly large board across the bench unless it is prevented from moving. Only when a fairly large piece is nearing completion is it sometimes possible to rely on the piece’s own integral weight and mass to provide sufficient ability to resi movement while being sawed, sanded, planed, or cut. To deal with this problem the andard cabinetmaker’s bench has gradually developed into a very efficient holding tool, equipped with all manner of devices for securing the work in progress (see chapter 1).

This is only half the problem, however, for there are numerous other occasions when work

10

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS needs to be securely held — and indeed more, when it needs to be very tightly held, and even compressed — for which the workbench is of little or no help. For these in ances an entire range of free anding holding devices has been developed, including clamps (or cramps, as they are known in Britain) of an a onishing variety, and many other contraptions ranging from items big enough to grasp entire doors or wall-sized panels to tools small enough to hold securely the tinie pin. There are even ways to hold things with surprising security that are not ri ly tools, but which may more properly be called jigs or simply methods of work.

Many of the tools and some of the methods are very old and yet, for all their antiquity and possible unfamiliarity to the modern woodworker, work as well today as they ever did.

WO ODEN CLAMPS

&

HANDSCREWS

THE ORIGINS OF BOTH THESE CLASSES OF

holding tools are extremely di ant, but it is likely that the basic clamp — from which sash clamps, bar clamps, and the now ubiquitous pipe clamp

Tool handle

Fixed point

fig. 8 tool-handle clamp

are all descended — came fir , and was developed from a very simple device, used in the making of handles, known as the tool-handle clamp (fig. 8).

The earlie -known examples of tool-handle clamps are found in those parts of America originally settled by the Dutch, and it is probably for this reason that ‘clamp’ is the preferred spelling in America, the word deriving from the Dutch: klamp. In Britain, on the other hand, where there was little Dutch influence (and where tool-handle clamps are almo unknown), the spelling has remained ‘cramp’, refle ing its descent from the much older German words: krampe and chrampf.

A tool-handle clamp — designed to hold a piece of wood needing to be worked in the round

Clamp with removable peg

Clamp with adjustable block

Clamp with adjustable block and extension

fig. 9 wood clamps

11

CLAMPS CRAMPS & PIN VISES

HOLDING TOOLS

3

MITER TRIMMING DEVICES TO ENSURE ACCURACY

M

ANY OF TODAY ’ S WOODWORKERS IF REQUIRED TO MAKE SOME FORM OF MITER WITHOU T THE AID OF THE TRUSTY TABLESAW WOULD NO DOUBT BE UP TO

THE JOB OF DOING IT BY HAND . AF TER ALL , MUCH OF THE PREPARATORY WORK necessary even when working in a shop equipped and has been made in a regularly re angular with a tablesaw ill has to be done by hand. We piece, and if the operator has used a sufficiently usually have to measure with a tape or a rule, and sharp and finely toothed saw, paying careful we typically have to use trysquares and bevels to attention to the ‘line’. If a miter box has been used mark where the cuts mu be made. It is a short — especially a metal miter box with saw guides ep to acually making the cut by hand rather than and clamps for the ock — the cut is probably bringing the work to the machine. And the quite accurate. But should the miter concerned majority of toolkits ill contain at lea some require anything more involved, such as the use of form of elementary miter box, even though mo larger or irregularly shaped ock, then the job is carpenters would nowadays not dream of going to liable to be regarded with a certain amount of work without a powered portable miter-saw, apprehension. If anything goes the slighte bit askew and recourse is had to some form of trimoften called a chopsaw.

What happens after the cut has been made, ming, then the chances are good that the job will however, is another ory. All is probably well, or have to be arted over or accepted as less than at lea well enough, if the miter is relatively small perfe . Taking a block plane — or any other kind

20

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS of plane — to the surface of a miter joint is an extremely risky proposition for any but the mo skilled: those possessed of a sharp eye, a firm hand, and a very keen plane.

Cutting an awkward or irregular miter is the kind of operation that causes many beginners to despair of ever being able to produce neat work with tight joints; it can also cause experienced workers to wonder at the consummate skill of the old-timers who worked without benefit of such modern-day marvels as the ele ric tablesaw and the radial-arm saw.

The truth is, of course, that although not having the powertools we enjoy today and being consequently more used to working with handtools alone and as a result more skilled in their manipulation, the old-timers had what we would consider a few tricks up their sleeves. While many of the tools that were common in pre-powertool days are ill with us — and are sometimes even used by us — many of their adjun s — the jigs, gauges, guides, and assorted implements that accompanied them — have become so forgotten that mo people have no idea there ever were such things.

MI TER S HO OT ING - BOARD THE SIMPLEST OF THE VARIOUS APPLIANCES

devised for ensuring accuracy when trimming miters is known as the miter shooting-board (fig. 27). This operates on the same principle as a regular shooting-board, holding the work so that a plane may be presented to the face to be trimmed at the corre angle. Whereas a regular shooting-board is fitted with a op, again which the work is held, mounted at right angles to the path the plane takes, the miter shooting-board’s op is mounted at 45°, and is usually mounted in the middle of the shooting-board, rather than at one end, so that it may be used from either dire ion.

Miter shooting-boards are invariably user-made since their con ru ion is so simple. All that is

needed are three pieces of fairly dense, raightgrained material such as maple, quarter-sawn to minimize warping and wear longer (side grain wears better than face grain). The bottom piece may be anything from 18 in. to 30 in. long by roughly 1 ft. wide. On top of this, ju as long but only half as wide, is fixed the second piece. This forms a wide rabbet in which the plane rides on its side. On the very top, and in the middle of the length, the short third piece is fixed. The work is held again this top piece so that the face of the miter to be trimmed overhangs the wide rabbet very slightly.

When making a miter shooting-board, two tips are worth bearing in mind: Fir ly, provide a du groove by chamfering the bottom of the second piece. Without this there is the risk that du buildup may force the sole of the plane away from the fence that this piece forms, and you will no longer be trimming the miter at exa ly 45°.

Secondly, take the time to mortise the top piece — the op for the work — into the top of the second piece rather than relying on screws or nails alone. This obviates the danger of the fa eners being pushed in the dire ion of the planing — with concomitantly unfortunate results to the accuracy of the trimmed face.

Providing the op is cut and affixed carefully so that the angle formed between the work and the plane is exa , and providing the bottom piece is flat and lies in a perfe ly parallel plane to the top of the second piece (on which the work re s), this is a foolproof device. Of course, a plane whose

21

Double-sided 45˚ stop

Dust groove

fig. 27 miter shooting-board MITER TRIMMING

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

External miter The unsupported edges of the moulding’s profile are liable to splinter.

Internal miter

Planing direction

fig. 28 dangers of trimming external miters

sides are at perfe right angles to its sole is also required, but mo of today’s low-angle block planes are usually quite exa . Before the advent of the metal block plane — a comparatively recent invention, fir appearing towards the end of the la century — a miter plane (see chapter 18) would have been used with the miter shootingboard. Metal or wooden, these planes had lowangle blades and raight, parallel sides which made them easy to hold and work in the sideways position required by the shooting-board.

The miter shooting-board is ideal for trimming internal miters on relatively small ock, such as applied mouldings. However, be aware that unless the plane iron is very sharp and set very fine, unsupported corners of external moulded miters are liable to be splintered off (see fig. 28).

By fixing ops cut at different angles, miters other than those at 45° can be trimmed. It is sometimes found pra ical to make a series of interchangeable ops to fit in the same mortise if you have much work to do at certain angles.

HOLDING TOOLS

An additional level of sophi ication can be achieved with the use of appropriately cut wedges on which the work is re ed. Used in conjun ion with the differently angled ops ju mentioned, these wedges permit the exa trimming of compound miters such as may be encountered in splayed work. The determining of the shape and size of the wedges and ops is made clear in fig. 29. A little trickier is the provision of some kind of support for the work. Once it is re ing on the miter shooting-board at the corre angle, it is usually be to secure it with the use of a bench holdfa . But with a little ingenuity other clamps can be arranged to do the job as well.

The only limit to the size of a miter shootingboard is the width of your large low-angle plane’s iron. When faced with the necessity of trimming miters that are larger than can be accommodated by the miter shooting-board, recourse may be had to two other miter-trimming devices: the donkey’s ear shooting-board and the miter shooting-block.

22

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

B

Stop

A

The work rests on block A, which is cut to match the thickness angle ‘a’.

Block B provides the width angle ‘b’.

The stop has been halved to present a 90˚ face to the work in order to allow the positioning of alternate angles.

‘a’ thickness

‘b’ width

fig. 29 shooting-board for splayed work D ONKE Y ’ S EAR SHO OT ING - BOARD THE DEVICE KNOWN AS A D ONKEY ’ S EAR

shooting-board (fig. 30) is used for trimming tall, narrow miters, such as those needed for fitting tall baseboards or moulded skirtings. It is a ually the same bea as a regular shooting-board, with the

Stop

Plane bed

Workpiece

Longitudinal keel

fig. 30 donkey’s ear shooting-board

difference that the bed on which the workpiece re s is made at 45° to the plane bed, thereby forming the miter angle, and its 90˚ op is centered in the board’s length (as in the miter shooting-board shown in fig. 27) in ead of being fixed at one end.

The work to be trimmed is frequently quite long. This forces the shooting-board to be positioned close to the edge of the bench so that long pieces of wood can hang unob ru edly over the side of the bench. The commone way of accommodating this need and ill being able to hold the shooting-board securely when using it is to fit the shooting-board with a keel-like member which can be held in the bench vise. The same could be done for the miter shooting-board, but this is generally unnecessary since the work is usually much smaller and the shooting-board can be held sufficiently securely simply by using it again a bench dog or bench op.

When trimming a tall miter it is generally be to work in from the top of the work. This will require holding the work again the appropriate side of the center op. In this way any tendency to split off the end of the miter is re ri ed to the bottom of the miter, where it will matter less.

23

MITER TRIMMING

SETTING-OUT TOOLS

4

MEASURING & MARKING TOOLS MAKING YOUR POINT

‘M

EASURE TWICE AND CU T ONCE ’ IS AN OLD PIECE OF ADVICE JUST AS VALID TODAY AS IT EVER WAS . AN EQUALLY USEF UL TIP IS TO MEASURE TWICE BEFORE

MARKING . F URTHERMORE , MARKING CAREF ULLY AND APPROPRIATELY IS ALSO important, for no matter how carefully you saw or chisel, if the job has not been set out properly, good results will be a matter of luck.

D E G REES OF EXAC T I T U D E All too often we pay scant attention to the a ual procedures whereby we measure and mark, F O R M U C H CA R P EN T RY , S U C H A S H O U S E and are consequently fru rated by poorly fitting framing and general woodworking with two-bywork. Disappointing results are not always simply fours and similar uff, measuring to the neare the fault of a blunt edge on the chisel, or uneven ⅛ in. is usually sufficient. When a greater degree and dull teeth on the saw, or even the lack of skill of niceness is needed it is common to hear carin manipulating the particular tool that may have penters express measurements as so and so many been used, but frequently merely the result of inches and a ‘fat’ or ‘thin’ eighth. Sometimes, inappropriate measuring and marking techniques. other more colorful expressions are used, such Any old pencil, picked up at random and used in as ‘five-eighths and a hair’, or so many eighths combination with the neare measuring tape, is ‘full’ or ‘bare’. To mark such measurements on con ru ion-grade lumber, a normally sharpened not necessarily good enough.

28

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS pencil is fine. But for finer work, such as finish carpentry and trimwork, cabinetmaking, and especially furnituremaking, more care is needed.

This chapter examines the tools and devices used for measuring and marking different kinds of work, and how they may be be used for the degree of exa itude required by the particular job.

P ENCIL

& CHALK

THE CARP ENTER ’ S P ENCIL IS OVAL , WITH

an extra-thick lead, barely exa enough even for rough carpentry — unless it is con antly sharpened to a flat point. It is pra ically useless for mo woodwork. Its oval shape (see fig. 35), while presenting a good surface for messages from the lumberyards or tool companies that often give such pencils away as advertising vehicles, makes keeping it behind your ear difficult. It sometimes comes in handy for making large, easily legible marks on concrete or foundation work, but the soft lead quickly wears down to a point often as thick as 1/4 in. Far more useful is a regular pencil of medium hardness, sharpened either to a conical point or a chisel-like point (see fig. 36). Pencils labeled ‘h’ will keep their point longer but leave a fainter line. Pencils labeled with ‘b’ leave nice black marks but wear very quickly. The ideal is a pencil marked ‘hb’, indicating a medium hardness and a fairly visible degree of blackness.

The chief disadvantages of using a pencil to mark layout lines and points on wood are that the mark often leaves an impression and the graphite is not as easily removed as a mark made with chalk. The use of ballpoint pens, felt-tipped pens, and other ink markers is similarly frequently undesirable. Felt markers in particular are inadvisable since the ink is especially liable to bleed far beyond the point you intend to mark.

Chalk has thus long been a favorite medium for marking wood since mo traces of it are quickly rubbed away, and any particles that may remain are easily hidden when finish is applied.

Nowadays, the encased chalk line is a common tool, especially useful for marking a long and raight line between two points on material such as plywood, gypsum board, and other pieces of wood too long to be easily marked by the use of a pencil and raightedge. The case is filled with powdered chalk, often colored, and the line is usually provided with a hook or loop that may be attached to a nail at one end of the line to be marked. This allows the operator to extend the line much farther than he or she could reach unaided. The line is withdrawn from the case and retched tautly between two points marking the ends of the line to be described, and then ‘snapped’ smartly so that a line of chalk is shaken off the line onto the work (see fig. 37). To produce a perfe ly raight line, care mu be taken to lift the ring or cord perpendicularly, and not at an

Conical point

fig. 35 carpenter’s pencil

Front and side views of chisel-shaped point

fig. 36 pencil point shapes

29

MEASURING & MARKING TOOLS

HOLDING TOOLS

5

THE SQUARE NORMAL PERFECTION

E

VEN WITH PRECISELY SET- UP FENCES AND ACCURATELY ALIGNED BLADES ON TODAY ’ S TABLESAWS , BANDSAWS , AND RADIAL - ARM SAWS

—

ALL OF WHICH CAN BE

RELIED ON FOR CONSISTENTLY PERFECT RIGHT- ANGLED CU TS

the simple trysquare.

In the pa the trysquare provided the main guidance for the majority of handsawing operations. Using it we made the marks that showed us where to saw. How accurately the cut was made depended not only on the saw and our skill in using it, but also to a great extent on where and how accurately the trysquare had been used. With powertools, on the other hand, often all that is necessary to make a perfe cut is simply to mark a single point indicating the required length, and leave the re up to the predetermined accuracy of the tool in que ion. Nevertheless, the trysquare is ill far from redundant. Not only does it remain one of our mo important layout tools, but it is

— WE STILL NEED often the very tool used to check the accuracy of the powertools that would appear to have rendered its primary use superfluous in the fir place.

A LONG H IS TORY THE SQUARE , AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT OF

such a basic tool, is one of the olde known to us.

Its form being largely di ated by its fun ion, it has remained basically unchanged for hundreds of years. Indeed, many 19th century shop-made wooden squares are virtually identical to the Roman squares described by Pliny and Vitruvius over two thousand years ago. Our word ‘normal’,

38

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

Trysquare

Framing square

fig. 51 framing square & trysquare

which long ago meant something that was a right angle, then came to mean something that was the rule or the pattern, and which is now used to mean simply something that is cu omary or usual, comes dire ly from the Latin: norma, which was the Romans’ word for a carpenter’s or mason’s square. The carpenter’s square in more senses than one is a very normal tool.

The tool now called a trysquare is the grandfather of them all, but it is only in the la hundred years or so that it has had a metal blade.

For centuries the common form was that of two wooden arms, one thicker than the other, fa ened together to form a right angle (see fig. 52). A curious feature often noticed by the fir -time user is the way in which the two arms are joined,

THE WO ODEN TRYSQ UARE MENTION ‘ SQUARE ’ TO A WOODWORKER AND

two main types spring to mind: the all-metal framing square used by carpenters, and the much smaller, wooden-handled trysquare used in the shop (see fig. 51). But there are other types: the machini ’s square, miter square, combination square, adju able square, sliding square, and sash square — not to mention the humble set square and T-square used mainly by draughtsmen but which are also useful in the shop.

39

Handle (or stock)

Tongue (or blade)

fig. 52 wooden trysquare THE SQUARE

SETTING-OUT TOOLS

6

BEVELS ANYTHING BUT SQUARE

T

HE BEVEL , AN APPARENTLY STRAIGHTFORWARD TOOL , FAMILIAR EVEN TO THE NOVICE WOODWORKER , SUFFERS FROM AN AILMENT UNUSUAL FOR SOMETHING SO COMMON : A SURFEIT OF OF TEN ERRONEOUS NOMENCLATURE . A GLANCE AT THE

indexes of a random sele ion of books on woodworking will confirm this; the tool may be li ed under square, bevel square, T-bevel, sliding bevel, or various other inventive combinations.

The word ‘bevel’ refers to any angle that is not square (90°). Stri ly speaking, it also excludes angles of 45°. Since there are ‘squares’, known as ‘miter squares’, designed to aid in the measuring and marking of 45° angles this would seem implicitly to exclude bevels from this area of geometry.

But since a bevel can be, and indeed often very usefully is, used to take off 45° angles, we should not be too pedantic on this point.

The tool used to measure and mark any angle other than one of 90° is therefore properly known

to masons and woodworkers as a bevel. To call it a bevel square without intending an oxymoron is to define something that cannot exi . Of course, it could be argued that the use of the word ‘square’ in this context is really a contra ion of the term ‘trysquare’, but then by extension a tool used to te angles other than those of 90° should be known properly as a ‘try bevel’, and this is one variation that, perversely, does not seem to exi .

Mo of the other names by which this innocent tool may be known are simply descriptive of the various levels of sophi ication in its design that have been achieved over the years. At fir glance one might be tempted to think, to paraphrase Gertrude Stein, that ‘a bevel is a bevel is a bevel’,

46

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS Rounded end at joint

Metal tongue with 45˚ end Ogee end Brass-tipped ebony stock

Square end

fig. 61 angle-bevil, 18th century

fig. 60 primitive user-made bevels

and yet, to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, ‘not all bevels are created equal’.

Although the bevel was known to and used by the ancient Romans, it fir made its appearance in the form familiar to us today at the end of the 18th century, at which time it was known as a ‘bevil’. It was also commonly called an ‘anglebevil’ — thereby proving that tautology is not confined to 20th century advertising. The fir manufa ured tools were modeled dire ly on the common wooden user-made tool: a raight ock, slotted at one end to receive a thinner arm, or tongue, which, being iffly secured in the slot, could be set at various angles to the ock.

While many primitive examples are finished with square ends on both ock and tongue, the end where both join is usually rounded (see fig. 60). The outer end of the tongue, when made of wood, was often finished with an ogee-like profile, similar to many wooden trysquares. Metal tongues are mo commonly found with the outer end of the tongue finished at 45° (see fig. 61), though larger angles from 60° to 75° also exi . The reason for this is twofold: fir , it aids significantly in folding the tongue back into the ock if the end of the tongue is cut back at less than 90° (ju as beveling the edge of a door aids in its closing tightly again the jamb); and second, the angle produced by the tongue and the ock ju before the tongue enters the ock provides a useful and ready-made auxiliary angle for such purposes as laying out dovetails (fig. 62).

The angled end of the bevel’s tongue may be used as a convenient guide when laying out dovetail joints.

fig. 62 laying out dovetails

47

BEVELS

SETTING-OUT TOOLS

7

GAUGES STOCK

‘G

&

STEM

AUGE ’, MEANING EXTENT, DIMENSION , CAPACIT Y , OR MEASUREMENT, IS A MYSTERIOUS WORD . IT IS FIRST NOTICED IN OLD NORTHERN FRENCH , WHERE IT IS THOUGHT TO HAVE HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH A MEDIEVAL WINE

container used as a andard for quantity. In American English it is sometimes spelled ‘gage’ but since this is also the term describing one sailing vessel’s position relative to another’s and the wind, keeping the older spelling when referring to the various tools and in ruments used in woodworking is a useful di in ion.

According to the basic definition of ‘gauge’ there are many tools used in woodworking that ought to qualify for inclusion under this head, but convention and usage — ultimate arbiters of what is finally considered ‘corre ’ — have decreed that ‘gauge’ be reserved for those measuring and marking tools which conform to the ock-and- em con ru ion. Although ‘gauge’ means simply to

measure, the woodworking gauge usually does something more: it marks. It may do this lightly or in a more permanent fashion. Accordingly, the ock, or head as it is also called, which a s as a fence or guiding block, moves along a rod-shaped part, known as the em or the beam, which contains some form of marking or cutting device, such as a pin, pencil, or small knife (see fig. 75).

Simple though this description and definition may seem, woodworking gauges exi in a surprising number of types and varieties, some of which are so complicated as to defy interpretation by the uninitiated. While every woodworker is surely familiar with the basic marking gauge — it is, indeed, one of those items invariably included in

56

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS Thumbscrew, securing stock

Pin

Stock (or head)

Stem (or beam)

fig. 75 marking gauge

even the smalle kit of woodworking tools — how many are on working terms with, among many others, the panel gauge, the slitting gauge, or the butt-and-mortise gauge?

Leaving aside the other numerous woodworking tools that might qualify as gauges in the broade sense — many of them a ually being called gauges, including, for example: auger-bit gauge, button gauge, caliper gauge, chisel gauge, clapboard gauge, cylindrical gauge, depth gauge, limit gauge, plane gauge, airbuilder’s gauge, and thickness gauge — true ock-and- em gauges may be divided into three main groups: marking gauges; cutting gauges; and panel and slitting gauges.

Apart from various panel gauges, which tend to be larger, these three groups all look so similar that the casual observer might not at once be able to discriminate between them. However, a closer examination of what ‘gauging’ is all about will make apparent niceties of difference much appreciated by the careful worker.

edge. By using a graduated rule with the hand that holds it as a fence pressed again the edge of a workpiece, an even raighter and more precise line can be drawn with the aid of a pencil held again the end of the rule (see fig. 76). Sub itute a wooden ock for the hand that holds the rule, make this adju able and securable by means of a thumbscrew, and fix the pencil in the end of the rule or em with a screw, and you will have made a simple, pencil marking-gauge. The common, fa ory-made marking gauge, fitted with a eel point in ead of a pencil, is essentially the same tool. Even a metal tape measure can be used as a marking gauge: the hook at the end of the tape, usually hooked over the end of a workpiece, is often made with a hole or notch in it that will securely locate a pencil point. Use a pencil with the tape measure similarly to the rule and pencil; the locking device found on many tapes further increases the accuracy of any line drawn this way.

The simple and mo basic marking gauge con itutes a quantum leap forward from either of these techniques in terms of ease and exa ness.

For one thing, the required measurement may be locked into place and ored, as it were, freeing your hands from the necessity of maintaining their grip for as long as you need to keep the gauge at the desired measurement.

The other main advantage of using a purposebuilt gauge lies in the control that may be exercised over the scribed line. It does not take much

GAUGING BASICS THE SIMPLEST GAUGE IS THE HAND ITSELF. By holding a pencil between thumb and forefinger, and running the hand down the edge of a board with the little finger hooked over the edge, a surprisingly raight and accurate line can be drawn up to as much as 5 in. or 6 in. from the

57

fig. 76 rule & pencil gauge GAUGES

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS Tilt the gauge in the direction it is being moved.

Hold the stock close to the workpiece.

Gauged line

Keep the leading edge of the stem against the workpiece.

fig. 77 using the marking gauge

pra ice to be able to manipulate the gauge so that the drawn or scribed line is always perfe ly parallel to the edge of the work and always inscribed with the same pressure, leaving a mark of regular depth or definition.

Two main techniques are pra ically all that is required for successful use of virtually any gauge — marking, cutting, panel, or slitting. These are the necessity of keeping the ock or head pressed closely to the work (and note that I said ‘closely’ and not ‘tightly’, for the obje is to avoid any space forming between the ock and the work and not to attempt to bury the ock in the work.

Excessive pressure does not increase accuracy but merely wears the face of the ock unnecessarily and can also damage the edge of the work); and developing the knack of maintaining a con ant angle between the gauge and the work. Exa ly

what this angle is will vary according to whether you are marking or cutting, and also according to the material you are working with — experience will be your guide here — but the degree of success will depend on the level of consi ency you are able to maintain. Of less importance are the que ions of whether the tool should be pushed or pulled and of which hand should be used to hold the tool. Individual circum ances will di ate different methods; you may need to see part of the work, the job may be too big to reach from any one angle, or there may simply be too many ob ru ions to afford a clear pull through in any one dire ion. fig. 77 illu rates one way of holding the marking gauge.

THE DEVELOPMEN T OF FACTORY- MADE GAUGES T H E T I M E WA S W H EN I T WA S C O M M O N

pra ice for mo woodworkers to make their own gauges. But as a man’s business thrived and he began to take pride in his tools beyond what his own toolmaking ability could provide, and increasingly as the 19th century saw the appearance of specialized toolmakers, more elaborate and sophi icated forms than the simple homemade gauge became common. A few home-made gauges ill survive, especially those made for specific purposes in some of the more specialized woodworking trades such as coopering, wheelwrighting, and waggonmaking (see fig. 78).

Apart from a lack of fa ory finish, and the frequent use of woods other than the beech mo commonly used by full-time toolmakers, these

Stock, permanently fixed to stem

Wedge

Extra-deep stock, for use over obstruction Pin

fig. 78 fixed gauge SETTING-OUT TOOLS

fig. 79 wedged gauge

58

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS user-made tools are usually chara erized by the simple wedge that secures the ock at the desired position on the em (see fig. 79).

One of the fir improvements that fa orymade gauges had to offer was a better method of fixing the ock. This consi ed of using a thumbscrew in ead of the wedge. You are less likely to move the ock from its desired position when securing it with a thumbscrew than when attempting to fix it with a wedge. Pra ically all the cheape lines of marking gauges featured this arrangement, and, indeed, today it is virtually the only method employed by contemporary toolmakers such as Stanley™ and Marples™. There were, however, other forms that used neither the wedge nor the screw, such as the threaded em (fig. 80), and the type made with a em cut in the shape of an interrupted cam (fig. 81). This type has a matching mortise in the ock, which may be loosened and tightened as desired simply by twi ing the em.

A superior method of securing the ock, surpassing both thumbscrew and cam method, was achieved with the development of gauges that featured a screw sunk into the ock so that its head was flush with the surface of the head (see fig. 82). The chief advantage of this method is that it is virtually impossible to alter the setting inadvertently. There is also no ob ru ion in the event it is necessary to turn the gauge in the hand during use.

Another fa ory-made improvement was the inclusion of a wear plate in that part of the ock which bears again the work (see fig. 83). Often taking the form of a simple inlaid brass rip, this piece was sometimes very elegantly shaped, and sometimes, indeed, covered the whole face of the ock. The value of providing a more durable face to the ock becomes apparent when another improvement that gradually became popular is taken into account. This is the pra ice of marking the em in inches and fra ions of an inch, arting at the point of the a ual marking pin.

With the addition of em graduation the gauge can be set to any desired measurement without

fig. 80 threaded stem Twisting the stem in this direction tightens the stock.

Twisting the stem in this direction loosens the stock.

Interrupted cam-shaped mortise in stock

fig. 81 cam-type gauge Recessed stockadjustment screw Brass wear plate

Keyway for keeping stock aligned on stem

Pin

59

fig. 82 ebony & brass gauge Boxwood thumbscrew

Pin-adjustment screw Graduated stem

Brass wear plate

fig. 83 improved marking gauge GAUGES

S AW I N G T O O L S

8

HANDSAWS A QUIETER APPROACH TO LUMBER CONVERSION

M

Y CIRCULAR SAW HAS SEEN MANY HOURS OF USE . APART FROM BEING DEAFENED

BY ITS WHINE AND SHOWERED BY THE SAWDUST IT THROWS UP, I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT I HAVE DEPENDED ON IT GREATLY AND AM GRATEF UL FOR ITS EXISTENCE .

But several times it has come very close to infli ing serious injury, admittedly through my own fault. Mo especially I shall never forget the time when I had been sawing a lot of particularly resinous pine and had failed to notice that the blade guard had become jammed by an accumulation of sawdu . I put the saw down at the end of a cut only to watch it race across the floor before the blade finished spinning. I was deva ated by what it did to the new floorboards I was in alling, but horrified at the thought of what it might have done to my feet if it had run the other way.

Over the years I have become more cautious, and I now don goggles, mask, and sometimes earplugs before pulling the trigger. I also try to

re ri its use to times when friends and neighbors are lea likely to be driven crazy by its noise, although I do not like to use it when I am completely alone ju in case I need someone to drive me to the hospital. I have similar concerns when using the tablesaw. This is not to denigrate this extremely useful invention — tablesaws can be capable of great accuracy and can do a great deal of work with minimum effort — but I do not have any of these problems when I use my handsaws.

Handsaws are also capable of great accuracy, and can do a lot of work with far less effort than might be thought possible, but you have to know how. This should not be seen as an ob acle, since it is equally inadvisable to switch on a

68

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS tablesaw or pull the trigger of a circular saw without some in ru ion. The argument that the use of handsaws requires a special skill should not preclude their use any more than does the need to recognize certain precautions and to learn certain techniques when using their powered cousins.

While it may be unreasonable to expe handsaws to replace powered saws at this age of the game, there are ill many occasions, quite apart from a power outage or a machine breakdown, when you might be glad of an alternative. For example, crosscutting long, heavy boards is much more easily done with a crosscut handsaw and a couple of sawhorses than by trying to manipulate them across the top of a narrow tablesaw. Avoiding kickback and binding while ripping warped or twi ed boards on a tablesaw can also be a dangerous operation, but there is no such danger when using ripsaws. At the other extreme, very small pieces are more safely and easily cut on a bench with a handsaw than by trying to feed them through the tablesaw with fingers only a slip away from the blade. Yes, it is true that by taking advantage of the va array of support sy ems developed for the tablesaw, such as additional tables, jigs, featherboards, holding devices, and even power-assi ed feeders, the tablesaw can be used safely, but this seems like an awful lot of extra work to get back to the simplicity already available with a handsaw. Moreover, apart from being quieter, making less mess, and posing fewer threats to life and limb, handsaws consume no ele ricity; they offer in ead a modicum of exercise and the opportunity to proceed with your work on a more thoughtful level.

One of the more surprising aspe s of handsaw use is the cheapness with which a quality saw can be found. I am not talking about new saws, the va majority of which are worse than useless, although the better mailorder companies do offer decent saws for upwards of fifty dollars, but about the many second-hand saws that can be found at fleamarkets and in junk ores for anything between three and fifteen dollars. Many of these are inferior and damaged beyond repair, but under

the ru and paint spatters there are ari ocrats to be found that with a little refitting will reward you with a lifetime of use.

THE HANDSAW FAMILY STRICTLY SPEAKING , ANY SAW OPERATED BY

the power of the hand (and arm) alone may be called a handsaw. This definition includes an a onishing range of tools, from tiny gent’s dovetail saws and jeweler’s saws to giant, two-man felling saws of the type used in the American Northwe a century ago to cut down trees as tall as 200 ft. In this and the following chapters the term is re ri ed to the narrower but more usual sense used in woodworking: those wide-bladed, single-handled saws used to convert boards and lumber into workable se ions for the job in hand.

These are: the crosscut saw, the ripsaw, and their smaller relative, the panel saw, all shown in fig. 94. Nowadays it is hard to buy a new handsaw that is anything else, but ill turning up in second-hand shops, in fleamarkets, and at au ion are many other types of wide-bladed handsaws,

69

Straight-backed ripsaw

Skew-backed crosscut saw

Plastic-handled panel saw

fig. 94 handsaws HANDSAWS

S AW I N G T O O L S

9

SAWFITTING & SAWING SHARP TEETH BITE BEST

A

T FIRST GLANCE ONE HANDSAW MAY LOOK VERY MUCH LIKE ANOTHER , BU T TRYING TO RIP WITH A CROSSCU T HANDSAW OR VICE - VERSA CAN BE A FRUSTRATING

EXPERIENCE . EQUALLY AS IMPORTANT in hand is using one that is in good condition.

This is not necessarily something that can be taken for granted simply by buying a new saw.

There are many things affe ing a saw’s fitness for work, including the shape, set, number, and size of its teeth, as well as the quality of the a ual materials from which the sawblade and the saw handle are made. Few of these fa ors are readily apparent to the inexperienced. But knowing what a saw is designed to do is halfway to being able to use it well.

In addition, there is the skill necessary to use the tool properly and effe ively. A beginner can have as much trouble with a well-conditioned saw as with one in poor shape and blame it all on the

AS USING THE RIGHT HANDSAW FOR THE JOB

tool, not realizing that the right tool can make all the difference in the world.

T H E D I F F EREN C E B E T W EEN S AW S THE PREVIOUS ABUNDANCE OF HANDSAW

types was such that merely classifying them as crosscut or rip is not very helpful. Nevertheless, knowing whether a saw is designed to crosscut or rip is a good place to art, since in pra ice almo every time you put saw to wood you are inevitably doing one thing or the other. fig. 101 illu rates the difference between saw teeth designed to crosscut and saw teeth designed to rip. Notice not

74

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

15˚ 45˚ 60˚

8˚ 52˚ 60˚

Crosscut teeth are formed with side bevels that turn each tooth into a knife.

Rip teeth are filed square across, turning them into a series of small chisels.

fig. 101 crosscut & rip teeth

only the different angles of the teeth’s profiles but also the fa that crosscut teeth are beveled to cut like a series of knives, while rip teeth cut only at their tips, like a series of tiny chisels. Guessing at a glance whether a saw is designed to crosscut or rip by looking at the size of the teeth alone can be deceptive; both sorts are made with different numbers of teeth to the inch — a feature usually described as the point size. Calculating the point

size is done by counting the number of teeth in a lineal inch, as shown in fig. 102. Ripsaws in general have fewer points than crosscut saws (the reason for different point sizes is discussed later), but a 7 pt. ripsaw can have teeth the same size as a 7 pt. crosscut saw, so judging the type by the teeth size alone is not reliable (see fig. 103).

ONE INCH

ONE INCH 8

To determine the point size of a saw, count the number of tooth tips contained in a lineal inch, starting from the tip of any given tooth.

When determining the point size of an older ripsaw, count teeth in the middle of the blade, since end teeth were sometimes cut smaller in order to make it easier to start the cut.

fig. 102 determining point size

4 points

51/2 points

4 1/2 points

6 points

5 points

7 points

fig. 103 ripsaw point sizes

75

SAWFITTING & SAWING

S AW I N G T O O L S

10

FRAMED SAWS LIFE BEFORE THE BANDSAW

O

F ALL THE MACHINES AND POWERTOOLS IN THE CONTEMPORARY SHOP, LARGE OR SMALL , THE ONE I WOULD BE MOST SORRY TO LOSE IS THE BANDSAW. TABLESAWS , JOINTERS , AND PLANERS CAN MAKE LIFE EASIER AND SPEED UP MANY PROCESSES ,

even imparting a satisfying degree of accuracy to many jobs, but if pressed I could manage ďŹ ne without them. To lose my bandsaw, however, would be a very heavy blow. It is a relatively mild-mannered machine, generally quieter than mo ationary powertools, and although like all powertools it ill needs to be treated with respe , it is not so ďŹ ercely or so noisily threatening. Even very large bandsaws (except perhaps certain resaw models equipped with extra-wide blades) hum along relatively quietly, making ju a gentle ticktick-tick where the weld joining the blade into a single loop passes through the blade guides, and unthreateningly invite the workpiece to be fed into the blade and twi ed and turned at will.

This easy-going machine is capable of a great variety of work: It can rip, crosscut, resaw, cut perfe circles, and make repeated pieces. It can be used with a fence or guide to produce multiple pieces of the same dimension, turn out matching tapered pieces, and follow the mo intricate patterns; it is especially good for following freehand curves. There may be other, more specialized machines that can perform each of these operations somewhat better, but in mo circum ances the bandsaw is a perfe ly adequate sub itute, and in a small shop where time or money does not permit a complete array of machinery, the bandsaw is regarded by many as the be all-purpose machine to own.

86

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS LIFE BEFORE THE BANDSAW BU T WHAT IF YOUR RESOURCES DO NOT

retch even to a bandsaw, let alone to a whole array of ationary machines? The answer lies in how people managed for generations before the bandsaw was invented. A quick look around museums and antique shops should make it obvious that woodworking did not begin with the advent of the bandsaw, and that very fine and complicated work was somehow wrought without this, or any other, powertool. How was it done?

With handsaws, of course, but not always and only with the kind of saw that now springs to mind when the word ‘handsaw’ is used. The saws that for mo of hi ory formed part of the woodworker’s toolkit, from Greek and Roman times, down through the Middle Ages, right up to the beginning of the Indu rial Revolution, were members of the framed saw family.

Apart from the common coping saw and its slightly more specialized cousin, the fretsaw, today’s handsaws belong to the unframed family of saws. Although the very earlie saws — those dating from prehi ory and consi ing of pieces of serrated bone and one — were technically without frames, unframed saws, such as the common crosscut handsaws and ripsaws ill available in hardware ores, have been with us only since the end of the 17th century. Before that time mo saws belonged to the framed family.

blade could be made rong enough to be used without any supporting frame.

Although the unframed saw has virtually supplanted the earlier framed models in America, in other parts of the world, notably the Far Ea and Europe, framed saws have remained popular and continue to be used by both a small number of discerning traditionali s as well as woodworkers too poor to afford anything else. It is a large family and not all its members may be useful today, but there are some that can ill play a useful role, especially for the woodworker without a bandsaw.

THE FRAMED FAMILY FRAMED SAWS MAY BE DIVIDED INTO TWO

main groups: those known as frame saws and those known as bow saws. Frame saws were designed primarily for ripping, that is, cutting with the grain, such as when converting logs into timbers, balks, and boards, or when resawing or ripping smaller boards into the desired width or thickness. It is this use that inspired the development of the fir bandsaws.

Tiller, handle used by top sawyer

FRAMED VERSUS UNFRAMED AN UNFRAMED SAW CONSISTS OF A FLAT

blade usually held by a single handle fixed at one end. Some large unframed saws, such as two-man crosscut saws (fig. 116), are made with a handle at both ends. What di inguishes an unframed saw is the lack of any framing holding the blade raight and taut; whatever rigidity the blade possesses depends solely on the rength of the metal itself.

It was not until the 17th century, when certain improvements in eelmaking were made, that a 87

Box, handle used by pit sawyer

fig. 116 unframed pitsaw FRAMED SAWS

S AW I N G T O O L S

11

BACKED SAWS STRENGTHENED, SUPPORTED, & REINFORCED BLADES

T

O WORK WELL A SAWBLADE NEEDS TO BE STRONG . THE STRENGTH REQUIRED HOWEVER IS NOT NECESSARILY MEASURED AGAINST THE MATERIAL IT IS DESIGNED

TO CU T. IT IS TRUE THAT BRU TE FORCE OF A SUPERIOR ORDER WILL USUALLY There are, however, other aspe s of the saw’s prevail in an otherwise equal conte — the larger of two giants will generally be able to knock the ability that even those who are familiar with saws smaller one down — but rength in a sawblade might not be aware of, which em from satisfying can be obtained in various ways, the chief of opposing needs in the saw’s design.

Cutting edges and teeth alone are not sufficient which is a result of the cunning invention of teeth.

A relatively small saw, made with a surprisingly to con itute a useful saw. Despite such ‘scientific’ thin blade of metal, can fell a tree many times its advantage, a certain amount of rength relative to size and weight simply by taking advantage of the the material being worked remains necessary. principle of the cutting edge applied, in the case But progressively providing a saw with more and of the saw, to a large number of small teeth. We more rength simply by making it bigger — and take this for granted (unless suddenly asked to fell so heavier and ronger — increasingly detra s such a tree with a blunt saw) but the ability of a from the efficiency of the mechanism by which relatively tiny tool to achieve such huge results the cutting edge performs its apparent miracle.

Without becoming too complicated, suffice it to would doubtless seem miraculous to mo people say that the principle of cutting depends partly on unfamiliar with the secret rengths of a saw.

92

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

Crosscut teeth

Open-handled old-style dovetail saw

Rip teeth Straight-handled modern dovetail saw

fig. 124 adjustable backsaw

At lea one manufa urer thought of this and produced a backsaw with an adju able back; one that, moreover, could be tilted out of parallel with the cutting edge, guaranteeing a perfe ly angled cut such as is occasionally required for canted, tilted, or splayed work. Since the back may move up or down the width of the blade it made eminent sense to cut teeth on both sides of the blade’s width, thereby providing crosscut and rip capabilities to the same saw, combined with a fail-proof depth op. The only disadvantage to this type of saw (fig. 124), ill to be found from time to time at au ion and with old-tool dealers, is that the handle is not quite as perfe ly comfortable as one designed to be held always in the same way.

FINER WORK THERE ARE SEVERAL SMALLER BACKED - SAWS

di inguished by different names and differently shaped handles that may be called backsaws.

These include the gent’s saw, the dovetail saw, and the dowel saw.

A modern dovetail saw looks ju like a smaller backsaw with a proportionately narrower blade but with a raight handle similar to the original handles found on antique Roman and Egyptian saws. Older dovetail saws from the 19th century were invariably furnished with the dolphin or SAWING TOOLS

fig. 125 dovetail saws

pi ol-grip type of handle common on contemporary handsaws (see fig. 125). Since the saw is considerably smaller, these pi ol-grip handles are, however, open, rather than formed into a completely closed oval. There is a slight advantage to the pi ol-grip type in that it allows you to keep your eye on the line being sawed and feel whether the saw is being held in the corre plane by the position of the handle. A round, raight handle offers no such clue.

The variety known as a gent’s saw (a contra ion of the term ‘gentleman’s saw’) originated in the 19th century as one of a number of tools made somewhat smaller than the regular tradesman’s size and intended primarily for use by gentlemen hobbyi s. Gent’s saws were invariably made with raight handles like modern dovetail saws. They were the forerunners of today’s do-it-yourselfer’s tools, but can be very useful as general-purpose small backsaws, especially since they usually have crosscut teeth in di in ion to a true dovetail saw which should have ripsaw-type teeth. The true dovetail saw has square teeth, frequently as many as twenty-two to the inch, since cutting out dovetails and pins typically involves sawing with the grain and requires as smooth and exa a cut as possible.

The third type, known as a dowel saw (fig. 126), may be identical to either of the previous types except for a cranked neck formed by a bent tang

96

PLANES

12

A PLANE FROM THE PAST CLUES TO A WOODEN PLANE’S AGE

I

T WAS THE THIRD ANTIQUE SHOP I HAD VISITED THAT AF TERNOON . SO FAR THE PICKINGS HAD NOT BEEN GOOD : A COUPLE OF UNDISTINGUISHED SMOOTH PLANES WITH BROKEN - OU T CHEEKS AND ONE OR TWO MOULDING PLANES MISSING THEIR

wedges and irons. I was losing intere rapidly. I was beginning to think that perhaps antique shops were becoming less fertile hunting grounds for old tools than they had been in the pa . And then it happened.

From a di ance it was the curve of the tote that grabbed my attention. The plane itself seemed common enough, somewhere between 18 in. and 2 ft. in length, and in the usual dirty condition, grey, paint-spattered, ained, and replete with a ru y iron. But the tote was altogether different from the handle seen on mo bench planes. As I came nearer I could see that not only did the top part curl back much farther than usual but also that the entire tote was peculiarly proportioned.

Something odd like this usually means that you are looking at a repair or perhaps even a homemade tool. I went over and took a closer look, not really expe ing to find anything more than another sad example of an abused plane rescued from total oblivion in some damp basement, and now de ined for retirement as a piece of antique atmosphere in someone’s weekend country house.

The tote had been repaired, the tail having been broken off and somewhat crudely nailed back on, but it was original, and it was apparent that it had been made by a professional. The proportions were different from the andard 19th century tote: squatter, with a more circular hole, longer overall, including the elongated curl at the top

100

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS that had originally caught my attention (see fig. 130), but the plane nevertheless had an air of that sure professionalism that di inguishes the fa ory-made article from a produ of a hand less pra ised. The curves were smoothly cut and flowed nicely from one to the other, and the shaped edges of the hole were evenly rounded.

My intere was aroused; what was this?

I picked it up and immediately noticed it felt heavier than is usual for a plane of this length.

Mo of the time this is because the tool is made of a heavier wood than the usual beech. Rosewood is fairly common, especially in a tool a craftsman might make for himself that was made to be better than the ordinary, and this would account for the unusual tote. But rosewood does not turn grey, and as I looked more closely I recognized the familiar speckled grain of beech. Beech that is heavier can indicate age or a possible British ance ry. Now I began to get excited. Was it possible that I had found a truly old plane?

NOT JUST ANOTHER OLD PLANE T H E P R O P O R T I O N O F N I N E T EEN T H A N D

early 20th century planes to 18th century examples is overwhelmingly in favor of the former, but it is ill possible to umble across isolated examples of early rabbets, dados, and moulding planes. But 18th century bench planes (smoothers, jointers, and trying planes) are extremely rare, probably because they saw much more use than the relatively infrequently used moulding planes. So it is never wise to rush to the conclusion that an oddlooking bench plane is that old; it is more likely some form of recent hybrid. But if it should prove to be genuinely old the excitement and thrill are that much greater.

It was time for a more careful examination. The fir thing to look for when attempting to date a plane is a maker’s mark. Will it be that of the fir known British planemaker, Wooding, or perhaps his equally legendary American counterpart, Nicholson? More often than not, when anything

Long curl

Nail repair

Round hole

the plane from the past’s tote Short curl

Oval hole

Vertical entry of tote into stock

typical 19th century tote

fig. 130 tote comparison

at all is visible, the amped imprint on the plane’s toe (the front end of the ock) turns out to be nothing more exciting than that of one of the common 19th century giants of planemaking firms: Auburn, Ohio, Greenfield, or the like. But, as is all too often the case, I could make out nothing on this plane. The toe had been so badly hammered and dented that any mark that may have once exi ed was now completely obscured.

Nevertheless, it was ill possible that this was an early — if unidentifiable — tool. I checked the heel of the ock ju in case something had been amped on the back. I have never seen a regular maker’s mark amped on this end, but you never know. An early maker might have left his mark here before the pra ice of imprinting amps on the toe became andard. Besides, in the absence of a maker’s mark, there is often much to be learned from any owner’s marks that may exi , and owners are liable to amp their names all over a tool, wherever there is space. Even if the owner is unknown and his hi ory cannot be traced, the amp may ill help date the tool since typefaces and imprint borders of particular eras are shared by both maker’s amps and owner’s amps. But

101

A PLANE FROM THE PAST

PLANES

13

BENCH PLANES THE FIRST FAMILY OF HANDTOOLS

P

LANES , ESPECIALLY BENCH PLANES , ARE ARGUABLY THE TOOLS THAT DEFINE FINE WOODWORKING . YOU CAN MAKE A LOT OF THINGS OU T OF WOOD , AND YOU CAN

WORK WITH WOOD IN MANY WAYS , BU T or joinery it is a pra ical certainty that planing will be an indispensable part of your life. The fa that for many people planing is now undertaken primarily by powered handplanes, or for those better equipped, by ationary machines known as planers, does not alter the fa that the operation of planing remains as central to fine woodworking as it ever was. Without planing it would ju not be woodworking as we know it.

But in common with many other aspe s of contemporary life that, after having remained relatively con ant for centuries, are now changed dramatically, planing also has altered radically.

Nevertheless, the operation is essentially the same as it has ever been: the produ ion of a flat and

IF WHAT YOU DO IS RELATED TO F URNITURE

smooth surface from the rough and irregular material of raw wood.

Where speed, economy of time and labor, and overall consi ency are concerned, the machine is supreme. There are few handplanes to be found in the great furniture fa ories of America these days, and indeed even many small shops have abandoned such tools in favor of thickness planers and jointers that work quickly and efficiently. But as those at the top of the craft know, there is ill no sub itute for the quality of the surface produced by a properly tuned plane in the hands of a skilled user. If you are concerned about revealing as much of the wood’s inherent beauty as possible, then abrading and machining the surface of wood

106

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS into technical flatness is no match for the effe s possible by cutting fibers and cells so cleanly that you can literally see into the wood.

Furthermore, when it comes to difficult grain and boards with features such as knots that machine users call defe s, a well-tuned plane can out-perform the average jointer or planer. The fear of tearout is well known to every machine operator, and inordinate amounts of time and energy are commonly expended in adju ing knife depth, speed of rotation, feed rate, and depth of cut in an effort to avoid the price we mu all too often pay for mechanical speed.

Unfortunately, competent planing is no longer as common as it once was, and few people have ever seen a properly tuned tool being used with skill. Disbelief of the claims made above is common. And even if all the pre–machine age woodwork of the pa is offered as evidence of what can be done with such tools the response is often: ‘Perhaps, but who has the time for that today?’

The fa is that it does not take as much time as you might think to acquire the skill and put it to use, and in any case time is not necessarily the mo important element in the pursuit of woodworking. If you have to produce a given number of items in a given period of time in order to pay the rent and ay afloat then admittedly time counts. But if quality is important, and if love of the material and enjoyment of the process are also

important, there may be other ways to reach your goal. The bench plane can be your secret weapon if you know how to use it. But it is important to realize that what is commonly sold as a bench plane today is in many cases only a poor imitation of the bench plane as it once was. Nevertheless, adju ments can be made, and even a new tool can be made to perform surprisingly well in knowledgeable hands.

MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY BENCH PLANES ARE THOSE PLANES USED AT

the bench to prepare and finish the surface of boards. The mo important members of this family are the smooth plane, the jack plane, and the jointer plane. Of course, every plane is used to work the surface of a board, but what is meant here is not cutting grooves, making joints, or forming special shapes, but the raightforward preparation of ock into tried and true material.

Usually the fir operation that is performed on any piece of wood, once it has been sawed to a workable length and width, is to produce at lea one flat or true surface. Without this all subsequent operations are difficult if not impossible.

Before the days of power jointers and planers this fir ep in almo every proje was accomplished with the jack plane (fig. 135).

Open tote Strike button

Razee stock

fig. 135 jack plane

107

BENCH PLANES

PLANES

14

SUCCESSFUL PLANE RACING ODDS-ON FAVORITES

W

HEN IT COMES TO RACING HANDPLANES , PU T YOUR MONEY ON THE OLD ONES , ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE WELL FETTLED AND IN THE HANDS OF A SKILLED

CRAF TSMAN . ALL OTHER THINGS BEING EQUAL , CONTEMPORARY BENCH PLANES of the Stanley™ type will be no match at all for was a lot of time-consuming and tedious handsimilarly sized wooden or uffed planes of work. It was absolutely essential for the economic respe able vintage. The older ones will win in health of the shop that this be done as well and as the raightaway, producing clean, chatterless efficiently as possible, and this meant that both shavings, and they will win hands down in all tools and mechanics be of top quality. One way to the specialized categories, such as Thinne relieve the tedium and simultaneously encourage Shaving, Smoothe Cut again the Grain, and high andards was for the apprentices, who were Be Performance over Gnarly Rowed and given mo of the grunt work, to engage in racing Interlocked Surfaces; they will even produce the tourneys. Even wagering was not unknown. The excitement was always particularly intense when a Longe Shavings on End Grain.

The sport of plane racing, once a vital part of job came in that involved a particularly troubleevery cabinet and woodworking shop, has all but some species. Wood with a high mineral content, died out. In the days before powered machinery such as zebrano (also known as zebrawood), that for planing, thicknessing, jointing, and other basic required eeper cutting angles to preserve the surfacing operations became commonplace there plane’s cutting edge for the maximum time, wood

116

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS with interlocked, rowed or twi ed grain, such as is common on many mahoganies, and wood that was highly figured, with areas of different resiliency and density, such as bird’s-eye maple and even hemlock, all raised the akes.

It may not be pra ical or even desirable to revive this obsolete sport, but since it can be very rewarding to use tools of ‘competition caliber’, it makes a lot of sense to develop the skills that were common among the competitors. If you consider keeping even a single plane in your shop worth while, then you owe yourself the experience of using it with all the skill, grace, flair, and efficiency that it is capable of.

FIRS T REQ U IREM EN TS A PLANE ’ S PERFORMANCE DEPENDS AS MUCH

on the condition of the plane as it does on the operator’s skill. The two things go inextricably hand-in-hand, for inasmuch as you cannot hone your operating skills on a deficient tool, neither can you fully under and what is required to fettle a tool if you have no experiential way of appreciating what is required of it. As your skills improve, so you become increasingly sensitive to possible improvements in the tool’s condition; and as the tool’s condition improves, so it becomes possible for you to discover increased levels of proficiency regarding its use.

But you mu art somewhere, and to do so requires taking a certain amount on faith since results may not seem to warrant the effort at fir .

Persevere, and as your fettling skills improve so will your technique, and vice-versa. Soon the time will come when you may even begin to regret the passing of the old plane-racing days, for you too will be eager to compete.

At the beginning remember that it is false economy to art with an inferior tool since you will need all the help you can get. There is little point in burdening yourself with an additional disadvantage. When experienced, you will be able to make even a cheap tool perform so that it will

amaze those not in the know. But at the same time be respe ful and try not to wreak too much havoc on the unsuspe ing tool with over-zealous grinding, filing, and sharpening. The golden rule is: ‘Little by little and bit by bit’.

FLAT NESS ABOVE ALL TH INGS F L AT N E S S I S T H E ‘ S I N E Q UA N O N ’ O F T H E

planing world. Regardless of any other ingredient in the equation it is impossible to plane anything flatter than the plane itself. If the sole of the plane is not perfe ly flat then no amount of skill or sharpening will produce a perfe ly flat surface on the work. By ‘perfe ly flat’ in woodworking is meant flatness to within a few thousandths of an inch. Given the non-contiguous nature of matter at microscopic levels and beyond, absolute flatness may turn out to be a mere philosophical concept.

Even flatness as defined in machining and toolmaking is not truly perfe , although its tolerances are far greater than those required for woodworking. In any case, we are ultimately limited by the material we are working with. Wood, being cellular in composition, can only ever present an average surface flatness to the world. This fa is readily apparent when we consider the differences between the various types of wood. Opengrained, large-celled species, such as oak, can never be made more than averagely flat across their surface when compared to denser, more evenly ru ured species such as boxwood, whose apparent flatness is much more continuous.

The flatte thing in the typical shop is the top surface of the tablesaw or some other ationary powertool. But examine this surface with a machini ’s raightedge and you may discover that even this is not truly flat. Hold the machini ’s raightedge again the sole of your plane (as in fig. 139, chapter 13), and you are likely to be amazed at the number of places light shines between raightedge and sole. This then is your fir job: to perfe the flatness of your plane’s sole with a machini ’s raightedge.

117

SUCCESSFUL PLANE RACING

PLANES

15

SCRUB JACK & JOINTER STOCK PREPARATION BY HAND

I

HAD GONE TO BUY SOME CHERRY FROM A HARDWOOD DEALER ON THE WEST COAST, WHERE ADMITTEDLY IT IS NOT AS COMMON AS IN THE EASTERN UNITED STATES , AND WAS SURPRISED TO FIND IT SURFACED ON BOTH FACES . I HAD WANTED EIGHT- QUARTER

ock (2 in. thick), expe ing that after milling and dressing I would end up with boards 3/4 in. thick, ju right for the proje in hand. When I asked the lumberyard operator why the boards were already surfaced, and as a result already reduced to 3/4 in., I was told that his cu omers preferred it that way, the better to see the grain pattern. I gave him a cock-eyed look and went elsewhere.

For one thing, despite having been surfaced, the boards were ill as warped, bowed, and propellored as you would expe any reasonably seasoned rough-sawn ock to be: admittedly not much, but ill far from perfe ly flat. After basic ock preparation to get the material to the point where parts could be measured and sawed out, I would

be lucky to end up with 1/2 in.-thick boards. For another thing, none of these boards was wider than 4 in., and mo showed considerable white sapwood; what did he expe the prospe ive purchaser to admire?

The experience demon rated two things: an increasing unwillingness to prepare one’s own ock, and a misplaced zeal on the part of the dealer to provide the cu omer with what was perceived as the desired end-produ .

At the other end of the scale, I have known people who take a great deal of pleasure in felling their own lumber, using a chainsaw millingattachment to convert it to boards, ickering it themselves, and then leaving it to season for a

124

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS WHAT YOU NEED APART FROM THE SAWS MENTIONED ABOVE

all that you need to prepare flat, tried and true pieces are a pair of winding icks, a scrub plane, a jack plane, and a jointer plane. If you decide to continue the process by hand to finished perfe ion, and avoid the use of abrasives, which bludgeon the surface to smoothness and de roy its clarity and luminescence, you will also need a panel plane and a smooth plane. Also useful for basic ock preparation, and even more so when you art joining boards and cutting joints, is a quality raightedge. For rough work, anything that is reasonably raight will serve, such as a wooden yard ick or a 4 ft.-long metal rule. But for the degree of perfe ion needed to produce impeccable joinery in wood — by nature an often irregular and variable material — a machini ’s raightedge (fig. 143, chapter 14) is invaluable.

The fir two items on the li may be unknown to many woodworkers, but they are far from unobtainable. Winding icks (see chapter 17) are simply a pair of parallel icks, invariably usermade, that are used to check overall flatness and

Note the curved cutting edge of the single iron and the wide mouth.

fig. 148 scrub plane PLANES

determine whether a board is ‘in winding’. This is another way of describing a board that twi s like a propeller, one part lying in a different plane from another. Note that winding has nothing to do with smoothness or localized flatness.

A scrub plane is simply a wide-mouthed and relatively short (10 in.) plane with an iron that has a very pronounced crown to its cutting edge.

Many people are familiar with the metal version sold by the Stanley Tool Company from 1896 to 1962 (fig. 148), but wooden versions have been used for hundreds of years, mo simply being adaptations of ordinary jack planes. Similarly, many contemporary metal jack planes can also be turned into workable scrub planes, as described below.

PLANING FOR FLAT NESS FACED WITH A PIECE OF WOOD THICKER

than will be ultimately needed, and given that it is also wide and long enough, the fir job is to make one surface completely flat. When this has been done the board may be thicknessed and brought to the corre width, using this flat surface as a reference for all the other dimensions.

If the board is already dressed (made smooth, but not necessarily flat), the jack plane is the fir tool to use. But if the board comes raight from the saw, and is ill furry and irregularly surfaced, then you need to use the scrub plane. As a precautionary measure to prote your plane from unwanted nicks and scratches, both to its cutting edge as well as its sole, use a iff brush — a wirehaired, file-cleaning brush is ideal — to clean any grit, loose particles of dirt, wood, or other debris from the surface.

Having chosen which side you wish to prepare fir , place the board with this surface uppermo on the bench so that it is held firmly in place and does not rock. Do this with the use of wedges (as shown in fig. 144, chapter 14) rather than by forcing the board flat, since a board bent flat will spring back to its bowed shape when released.

126

PLANES

16

THE SMOOTH PLANE EVALUATING A FORGOTTEN ICON

I

N NINETEEN SEVENTY- FIVE RAPHAEL SALAMAN STATED , IN A BOOK THAT REMAINS A STANDARD REFERENCE WORK FOR ALL WOODWORKING - TOOL ENTHUSIASTS , BE THEY COLLECTORS OR USERS , THAT THE SMOOTH PLANE WAS STILL TO BE FOUND IN MOST

woodworking shops.* He went on to remark that it was often so worn on the sole that its original thickness was considerably reduced. Today, not only is the fir part of this atement somewhat less than an absolute truth, but the second part is liable to make many people wonder: thin planes — what could he have meant!? What Salaman was talking about, of course, were wooden smooth planes; nowadays, if smooth planes exi at all in a woodworking shop, they are likely to be the metal type of plane, mo commonly represented by the Stanley™ model. * R. A. Salaman. Dictionary of Tools used in the woodworking and allied trades, c. 1700‒1970. London 1975

A FORGOT TEN ICON FROM TIME TO TIME ARTICLES APPEAR IN

woodworking magazines on how to make these metal smooth planes more efficient. In ru ions may be given on improving the adju ments of the moving parts, refining the ca ing, or flattening the sole, but the sad truth of the matter is that the technique of using these tools is becoming less and less a part of the typical woodworker’s basic knowledge about his or her craft. A tablesaw and a belt sander are often more frequently found than a smooth plane. A wooden smooth plane (fig. 153)

134

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

Stock, upside-down Wedge

Capiron

Cutting iron

Capiron bolt

fig. 156 parts of the smooth plane

dire ly into a threaded hole in the capiron; in British-made irons there is often a small brass boss fixed to the top face of the capiron (see fig. 166), and the short bolt is threaded through the capiron into this boss. In its simple form that is all there is: ock, wedge, and iron.

Planes dating from earlier than the beginning of the 19th century, as well as cheaper models produced well after this date, sometimes into the 20th century, have single irons. Since these single irons were not designed to be used with a capiron, they may be identified as such by the fa that they are ‘uncut’, that is, there is no slot through which the capiron bolt may be inserted. Old-tool dealers sometimes offer for sale irons, or packets of irons, manufa ured expressly for wooden planes, and identify them as ‘cut’ or ‘uncut’.

Armed with this knowledge you ought not to be fooled by a plane loosely fitted with a single, cut iron; you will know at once that the capiron is missing. At the same time, you should be aware that a plane designed for use with a single iron will necessarily have a narrower slot cut in the sides of its throat than a plane designed to

accommodate a double iron. If you find a plane with a wedge and a single, cut iron that appear to fit well, you should entertain the possibility that the original iron was either used up or lo and has been replaced. A cut iron will fun ion equally as well as an uncut iron — although the reverse is not true — and the sub itution of cut for uncut is perfe ly reasonable and acceptable.

Apart from certain specialized designs, some of which, like the modern block plane, ill exi , a double iron is usually to be preferred, since the capiron adds superior chip-breaking capability to the plane’s mouth. This translates into the ability to plane without tearout in any dire ion, with or again the grain. Additionally, a capiron lends support to the very end of the cutting edge.

Therefore, choose a double-iron smooth plane over a single-iron model.

Having assured yourself that all parts are present and the plane is complete you need to check the throat (see fig. 157). This is the hole in the center of the plane where the iron is inserted.

There is much damage that can be repaired in a smooth plane to make it good as new: you can

137

THE SMOOTH PLANE

PLANES

17

THE JACK PLANE VERSATILE

S

&

MASTERFUL

OME TIME AGO A WOODWORKER SENT ME A PHOTOGRAPH OF AN UNUSUAL WOODEN PLANE WITH A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION . HE HAD FOUND THIS TOOL IN THE SOU THWEST. IT APPEARED TO BE ABOU T EIGHTEEN INCHES LONG , WITH A FAIRLY

low-angle iron of square profile set in a andard mouth. Apart from the rather shallow angle at which the iron was seated, these chara eri ics were not too remarkable, but what ood out was a pair of large transverse handles, one at the front and one at the back, mounted on the top of the plane’s ock (see fig. 167). A closer inspe ion revealed something else of intere : the cuttingiron assembly was amped with an unusual series of marks and various words in an apparently foreign language.

A tool like this would probably have aroused little intere a generation or two ago, since it would have seemed to the casual observer to be little different from many other tools common in

shops and toolkits everywhere. Indeed, its salient features — the wood it was made from, its length, its general shape, the profile of the iron — would have been common to a ho of everyday tools.

Even the form of its iron (fig. 168), the shape of which seemed curious to my correspondent, was also typical of, if not andard for, mo plane irons then being made. A contemporary woodworker might have remarked on the transverse handles, and might also perhaps have noticed the foreign provenance of the blade, but even so, the tool would probably have been regarded with little curiosity.

Progress marches on, and with it, tool design. A form that was recognizable for several hundred

146

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS ill valid and that in many in ances might ill be the better way to go. The common wooden jack plane is one example.

User-added handles

SIMPLER TO OLS , MORE SOP H IST ICATED RESULTS F O R A V ERY L O N G T I M E A LL T H AT WA S

Scandinavian cutting iron

fig. 167 modified jack plane

years suddenly becomes an unusual oddity, and the truly novel feature is confused with what was once commonplace. This process unfortunately results in much that was useful being discarded and lo . While some people are now beginning to que ion the hitherto received opinion that all progress is a good thing, few are willing to look backwards, feeling that to do so would involve sacrificing advances that have become virtually indispensable to our contemporary way of life.

But this is not necessarily so; there is much that has been discarded in the name of progress that is

Wedge-shaped, laminated cutting iron

fig. 168 typical 19th century double-iron

needed for much woodworking was a handsaw, a plane or two, and various other small, inexpensive handtools. These days mo people assume that they need a tablesaw, an ele ric router, and as many other expensive powertools as can be afforded. This erroneous idea is a shame for two reasons: fir , because it discourages too many people who cannot afford such tools, and second, because although it is easy enough to switch on the tablesaw and push a piece of wood through to make a quick and fairly accurate cut, achieving any finesse, even on a powertool, requires skill that is unlikely to be developed so long as a quick and easy — albeit cruder — method of work is so ready to hand.

Jack planes like the one in the photograph I received co very much less than a planer, but properly used can produce finer work. Initially, it might seem easier to push a board through a planer than to develop the hand-planing skill necessary with the jack plane, but look at the equation more closely and the disparities vanish.

Fir ly, consider the time it takes to earn the money to buy the planer. You could spend the same amount of time and achieve sufficient skill with the handtool. Once this is learned you no longer have to put up with noise, du -colle ion problems, or the danger that is inherent with powertools. Be of all, the surfaces you produce are finished, and do not need to be sanded. This avoids the use of more machines and the creation of more du . To someone with no experience of well-maintained handtools used properly this always sounds hard to believe, but look at all the impeccable woodwork that was produced in the la three hundred years, before powertools were

147

THE JACK PLANE

PLANES

18

BLOCK MITER BULLNOSE & CHARIOT DISTANT RELATIONS

T

HE PLANES DISCUSSED IN THIS CHAP TER , WHILE THEY SHARE SEVERAL SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS AND MIGHT APPEAR TO BE MEMBERS OF THE SAME FAMILY, ARE

NOT, IN FACT, CLOSELY RELATED . THEIR ACTUAL SIMILARITIES CONSIST OF : THEIR handiness, achieved by virtue of their small and specialized uses, but the basic tools may be size; the fa that they fun ion in certain respe s described as follows: as miniature bench planes rather than as fullblown, special-purpose planes like rabbet planes, ploughs, or dados; and the fa that they are all THE BLO CK PLANE single-iron tools. Although miter planes and block planes are indeed very close relatives, THE BLOCK PLANE IS PROBABLY THE BEST the latter being dire ly descended from the known of the four types (see fig. 182). It is also the former (which, as will be explained later, is newe addition to the group, being the metal paradoxically also descended from the former), development of the venerable miter plane. Fir bullnose planes and chariot planes are quite introduced in the 19th century as a smaller version unrelated, both to each other and to either of the of the miter plane, it was quickly adopted by many former pair. Nevertheless, since the uninitiated woodworkers. Small enough to be held and used often confuses them, it is useful to deal with in one hand, and possessing an iron set at a much them all together. Each type has various forms lower angle than regular bench planes such as

158

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS The cutting iron is set at a much lower angle (12˚–20˚) than in other planes.

The stock consists of a metal box with a wood infill.

fig. 182 block plane

smooth planes, jacks, and jointers, it rapidly became popular as a convenient ‘apron tool’, one that could be carried around in a pocket and used for innumerable small jobs.

It was the metal planemaker’s delight, and despite its small size and single iron, varieties with numerous improvements soon appeared. Even today, when mo other planes have been reduced to one basic form, it is ill possible to buy three or four different varieties of new block planes.

THE MI TER PLANE A LT H O U G H T H E C O N T EM P O R A RY M E TA L

block plane was a development of the miter plane, the miter plane itself is a ually descended from an earlier form of plane also known as a block plane, common since the Middle Ages. This apparent paradox is a result of the modern block plane being named for the blocks of hardwood used in butchers’ chopping tables, which it alone was able to work successfully, whereas the block plane from which the miter plane is descended was named for the fa that it was a tool consi ing primarily of a cutting iron set in a ‘block’ of wood.

There is little doubt that the original block plane was the fir form of the great plane family of tools, and indeed, for many centuries it was the typical form. The miter plane (fig. 183) developed from this proto-plane to satisfy the need for a tool that could produce particularly fine work on

fig. 183 miter plane

hardwoods and end grain, such as occurs at miters (hence the name). Curiously however, its design, as it came into being in the 18th and early 19th centuries, is almo identical to that of many Roman planes presumably used for general work.

Despite the fa that miter planes were once the mo expensive and cherished of planes, they are now no longer made, although one of the la varieties to be manufa ured, the somewhat erroneously named Stanley™ 9: ‘Cabinet Maker’s Block Plane’ (fig. 184), is one of the mo soughtafter and expensive planes. A far better buy would be any of the European miter planes commonly found at tool au ions. These sell for much less and are superior in every way.

159

The ‘Number 9’ has the iron set at a low angle like a true block plane, but it is a double iron, and is set in a metal body similar to a miter plane.

fig. 184 ‘cabinet maker’s block plane’ BULLNOSE & CHARIOT

PLANES

19

THE RABBET PLANE RABBET OR REBATE?

T

HE WORDS

‘ RABBET ’

AND

‘ REBATE ’

COME FROM THE OLD FRENCH :

‘ RABATTRE ’,

MEANING TO BEAT BACK OR REDUCE . THIS IS THE SENSE IN THE FINANCIAL USE OF THE WORD AND IS ALSO THE SENSE IN WOODWORKING . ALTHOUGH CERTAIN

English speakers have given the word the spelling and pronunciation of ‘rebate’, it is certain that when the technique was fir introduced to England by Flemish woodworkers sometime in the 12th or 13th century it was pronounced more like ‘rabbit’. French was ill in widespread use in England at this time, and there is no doubt that this is a closer approximation to the way the word was originally pronounced in French. In Britain today both senses of the word are spelled ‘rebate’, although mo woodworkers pronounce ‘rabbet’ when using the word in the woodworking sense.

Americans have perhaps more usefully decided to keep both the spelling and the pronunciation of the two senses separate, leaving ‘rebate’ to the

financial world, and reserving the alternative ‘rabbet’ for woodworking.

NOT A MOULDING PLANE THE RABBET PLANE IS SOMETIMES THOUGHT

of as the mo common moulding plane, but it is not a ually a moulding plane at all. It is true that rabbet planes con itute at lea half of all the old wooden planes ill floating around in woodworking shops, fleamarkets, antique ores, and the hands of tool colle ors, and it is also true that the va majority of rabbet planes are more or less the same size and shape as mo moulding planes,

166

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

Simple rabbet

Single rabbet (lap joint)

Double rabbet (double lap joint)

Twin or matching rabbets (halving joint)

fig. 192 common rabbets

but a rabbet plane does not make a moulding and so cannot properly be called a moulding plane.

Although a rabbet plane may be very useful in the preparatory ages of forming certain mouldings, its primary use, as its name clearly indicates, is to form a rabbet. A rabbet is the ledge formed along the edge of a piece of wood when a ep-like portion is removed. fig. 192 shows the commone forms of rabbets used in everyday woodworking, including simple, double, and twin rabbets. The rabbet not only exi s in its own right as a finished joint or ru ural feature but also forms part of more complicated assemblies. Since its formation is undoubtedly one of the basic operations common to all forms of woodworking, it is hardly surprising that there are so many tools in exi ence to help make it.

Nowadays, mo people called upon to form a rabbet probably reach for a router fitted with a rabbeting bit, or even a simple raight-bit, or take the piece to be rabbeted over to the shaper, the router table, or the tablesaw. Set up corre ly and used with care these tools can do a fa and exa job of forming rabbets in a variety of ways. But handtools designed to make rabbets, if similarly carefully set up and skillfully used, can also be very efficient, and in some cases form rabbets difficult if not impossible to make with the machines.

Furthermore, the advantages of being able to reach for the handtool and cut a relatively short rabbet with no machine setup time required, not to mention the often greater sensory pleasure

involved in quietly and safely using a handtool in ead of a noisy and potentially dangerous powertool, often outweigh considerations of economy and time.

For many people the end result is all important, but perhaps more than in many other crafts or occupations woodworkers are attra ed to the means as well as the end, and especially to the nature of the material they have chosen to work with. Although safety and economy often di ate it, I personally regret having to be di anced from my work and the feel and smell of my material by ear prote ors, noisy routers, face masks, and all manner of guards and push icks.

It is a source of great pleasure to me to be able to feel — safely — the surface of the wood I am working on, smell the aroma given off as a fresh shaving curls quietly away from the surface, and even hear the di in but quiet noise made by various planes and other tools.

In ultra-fine work the surface finish obtainable with a well-tuned handtool is invariably superior to that attainable by any machine, despite the machine’s often superior accuracy. I am working with wood, after all, which is not a relatively homogenous material like metal or pla ic, and accuracy to .001 in. is less important than a completely smooth, crisply cut surface, free of jointer marks, router burn or chatter, planer waves, and the dull, abraded cell ends produced by sanding no matter how fine the grit. And if my finer surface is a trifle less exa who will tell the

167

THE RABBET PLANE

PLANES

20

THE DADO PLANE ‘MADOX REDIVIDUS’

OR, AN AMAZING DISCOVERY

W

HAT I FIND AT YARD SALES AND THE LIKE NEVER CEASES TO AMAZE ME ,

— AND ‘ OLD ’ CAN MEAN AS MUCH — MANY OF WHICH MAY HAVE SEEN A GREAT deal of use even if they have subsequently lain things slip through the net simply because they ignored and forgotten for decades. In this age of are not recognized for what they really are. The antique colle omania almo everything the lea dado plane is a case in point. This is undoubtedly bit old is colle ed avidly by one group of people because it looks very much like a moulding plane.

This fa alone often leads enthusia ic antique or another, and almo anything dirty enough to look fifty years old is enthusia ically offered for dealers to charge an arm and a leg for it, but by sale at yard sales and fleamarkets, and even by and large, even in the ate of California, where no antique ores who ought to know better. With so moulding planes were ever commercially made, many people on the trail of ‘antiques’, it is a never- and where the contemporary user base mu have ending surprise to me that, more frequently than been far smaller than in mo other parts of the might be expe ed, really old and intrinsically country, moulding planes are not so rare that they may not commonly be found for ju a few dollars valuable items ill do show up.

Of course, one reason for this is that despite the or so. In fa , the average price at fleamarkets and plethora of speciali books and price guides on many unpretentious antique ores seems to be everything from bottle caps to bass drums, some between ten and fifteen dollars.

ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO OLD TOOLS

AS A HUNDRED YEARS OR MORE

176

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

A moulding plane’s sole is variously profiled.

The dado plane has a right-angled stepped sole.

fig. 207 dado plane & moulding plane

Like many other things you may never notice until you art looking, they are more abundant than you might think. Hundreds of thousands were made over the better part of two hundred years. Despite the fa that for all intents and purposes commercial produ ion ceased in the 1920s (there are ill a few models made and offered for sale in speciali woodworking-tool catalogs), moulding plane produ ion in the 19th century was truly aggering. At the same time, early examples from the middle or beginning of the 18th century are far less common. Such planes command commensurately higher prices when

they enter the knowledgeable tool-colle or’s market, privately or at au ion.

Nevertheless, despite these older planes’ greater rarity it is by no means impossible to discover, even in as unlikely a location as California, a plane that is well over two hundred years old. This is because there is little difference, to the untrained eye, between one moulding plane and the next.

Even so, discovering an example of one of the very fir dado planes ever made can ill be a delightful surprise, but such was my good fortune recently in a California yard sale.

WHAT IS A DAD O PLANE ?

A dado is a groove, wider than it is deep, running across the grain.

fig. 208 dado

IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT A DADO IS NOT

a moulding, and a dado plane by definition is therefore not a moulding plane (see fig. 207). It may look like one, but it does not and cannot make mouldings. Like many other planes that get lumped together as moulding planes simply because they are all about 91/2 in. long, somewhat thin, and made of wood, the dado plane is a special-purpose plane whose fun ion is not to ick mouldings (‘ ick’ being the corre term for the process of forming a moulding on solid wood with a moulding plane), but to form joints.

177

THE DADO PLANE

PLANES

21

THE PLOUGH PRINCE OF HANDTOOLS

W

HILE IT IS TRUE THAT IN AMERICAN ENGLISH THE WORD

‘ PLOUGH ’

IS TODAY

GENERALLY SPELLED ‘ PLOW ’, I THINK THERE IS A CASE FOR USING THE OLDER , BRITISH SPELLING WHEN REFERRING TO THE WOODWORKING PLANE THAT GOES

by that name. Not only was the tool introduced to America chiefly by British craftsmen — the fir tools being undoubtedly of British origin, in consequence of which ‘plough’ was the spelling fir used on the American continent — but even subsequent native ploughs, manufa ured in America by Americans, were known by this spelling. Moreover, few ploughs were ill being produced by the time the spelling changed. So, in fa , mo ploughs seen today originally began life not as ‘plows’, but ‘ploughs’, and were made, advertised, and sold as such.

The plough, often referred to as ‘the prince of handtools’, is not only one of the handsome tools ever designed, but it is also truly useful, and

deserves a place in the toolbox ju as much as on the colle or’s shelf.

Although various forms of woodworking ploughs have been around for hundreds of years, the tool that is conjured up today at the mention of the word is usually an example of the type made during the 19th century. This period saw the manufa ure of woodworking handtools change from what had been typically one-man operations to big business ventures, involving fa ories with large numbers of workers. Although this change produced large numbers of mass-produced tools it also saw the development of more expensive tools aimed at the more discriminating and demanding consumer. Because of their relative complexity

184

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS ploughs were particularly susceptible to this kind of development, and as a result ploughs were made that are truly works of art, frequently cherished over all other tools in the toolche .

But in order to gain a clearer idea of the nature of the bea that is called plough, let us return to the beginning of the 19th century for a quick overview of the situation then obtaining, and see how the changes in tool manufa ure resulted in the extraordinary profusion that occurred later.

EUROP EAN VS . B RI T IS H VS . AMERICAN AS THE INFANT AMERICAN TOOL INDUSTRY

began to develop there already exi ed two basic types of ploughs: the European and the British.

The British type predominated right from the art of the tool’s introdu ion to America, and soon gained complete ascendancy, only, however, subsequently to split into two further types, now referred to as British and Yankee. To under and what differentiated these types it is necessary to examine more closely exa ly what the tool does and how it operates.

It is all in the name: the plough plane, like its bigger namesake, the agricultural plough, cuts a groove across the surface of the material it is used on. Grooves are much used in woodworking both by carpenters and by cabinetmakers, and there are many sorts, now usually di inguished by various names according to their dire ion and location in the wood. For example, there is the rabbet, which is an open-sided groove at the edge of a piece of wood; the dado, which is a groove cut across the grain; and the slot, which is a closed-end groove (see fig. 214). The word ‘groove’ is usually reserved in woodworking for an open-ended groove running with the grain, either in the edge or on the face of the wood. It is the woodworking groove with which we are concerned, for this is what the plough is employed to make.

When you make a groove there are three things to be considered: the width of the groove to be made; the depth to which it is to be cut; and its

precise location in relation to the neare edge. A groove of any given size may of course be made with a simple purpose-built tool such as a scratch ock, but this will be the only groove possible with such a tool. If you have three differently sized and located grooves to make, you will need three different scratch ocks. The great beauty of the plough plane lies in the various adju ments possible that allow all three considerations to be accommodated in almo limitless combinations.

How the position of the groove is determined is what at fir differentiated the British type from the European type. The positioning mechanism consi s simply of a fence attached to the ock (body of the plane) by two arms. By varying the di ance between the fence and the ock (which contains the iron, or blade), the location of the groove can be adju ed in relation to the edge of the workpiece. In Europe the pra ice was to fix the arms to the body of the plane and slide the fence in and out as needed on these arms. In Slot

Dado

Groove Rabbet (wider than deep)

Groove (deeper than wide) made at the edge by a plough

groove considerations

185

1. Width 2. Depth 3. Location

1 2 3

fig. 214 grooves THE PLOUGH

PLANES

22

SASH FILLISTERS THE UNCOMMONEST FILLISTER

F

ILLISTER PLANES MAY BE REGARDED AS THE ARISTOCRATS OF THE RABBET PLANE FAMILY. THEY CAN INDEED RIVAL THE FANCY WOODEN PLOUGH PLANE DESCRIBED IN THE PREVIOUS CHAP TER IN TERMS OF MAGNIFICENCE AND INGENUITY, FOR THEY

also are undoubtedly among the be examples of the pre-mechanized toolmaker’s art. And of all filli ers, the sash filli er (fig. 221) is the lea common, and as a result is the lea well under ood. It is often not even recognized as a filli er at all, but in ead is frequently confused with a plough plane, whose overall form and appearance are admittedly very similar.

Although their original use in the making of window sash has now been made largely obsolete by all sorts of milling machinery, sash filli ers can ill prove to be useful tools in the small cu om shop that specializes in re oration or reprodu ion work, and may also find a needed place in fine furniture shops where their unique

attributes can sometimes make easier certain jobs that might prove tricky with router or shaper.

SASH FILLISTERS & O T H ER RA B B E T P LA N ES A FILLISTER IS BASICALLY A RABBET PLANE

(see chapter 19) fitted with a fence and depth op.

Its purpose is pra ically the same as that of a common rabbet plane, namely to cut a rightangled se ion out of the edge or corner of a board. Such a rabbet is much used in all kinds of woodworking. In carpentry it is to be found in siding and flooring where adjacent boards are

192

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

fig. 221 left-handed sash fillister

rabbeted to enable them to fit together. In joinery and furnituremaking the rabbet forms the basis for numerous joints and con ru ion techniques.

Making rabbets, in fa , is one of the commone woodworking operations, and so it is not really surprising that there is a wide variety of tools designed to make them. Nowadays mo rabbets are made with router, shaper, or tablesaw, but in the days before powered machinery the plane reigned supreme.

The common rabbet plane was made with a raight or skewed blade, and sometimes fitted with a spur, but since its primary use was for smoothing the bottoms of rabbets already formed, which would themselves lend guidance to the tool’s path, they lack any form of fence or depth

op. When more guidance was necessary, fences would have to be fixed to the work itself. That this was often inconvenient — and that these planes were also used to art and form the rabbet rather than merely cleaning up the work already begun by some other tool such as the moving filli er mentioned below — is clearly demon rated by the exi ence of many rabbet planes bearing the marks of fences having been nailed or screwed to the side or sole of the ock.

A rabbet plane made with a built-in fence and depth op is known as a filli er. Although there are several varieties all belong to one of two main classes: anding filli ers or moving filli ers. The former class consi s of planes with fences and depth ops formed simply by the shape of the

193

SASH FILLISTERS

PLANES

23

MATCH PLANES MADE FOR EACH OTHER

I

N THE LOOSEST SENSE , THE TERM ‘ MATCH PLANES ’ REFERS TO THOSE PLANES THAT ARE MADE IN MATCHING PAIRS , THE PROFILE CU T BY ONE MIRRORING THE PROFILE CU T BY

THE OTHER . THIS IS PERHAPS MORE ACCURATELY REPRESENTED BY THE BRITISH TERM for these tools: ‘matching planes’. But more specifically, the term ‘match planes’ is also often used to describe those planes used in the making THE SUPREMAC Y OF THE of ‘match-boarding’. That match-boarding TONGUE - AND - GRO OVE describes boards furnished with complementary edge joints of various patterns (tongue-and- BEFORE T H E I NT ROD UCT ION OF P LY WO OD groove being perhaps the be known, although and other sheet materials which make the job of other varieties exi , mo notably the kind of covering large areas a relatively easy procedure, combination, semi-locking bevel joints used in different methods using wood were common. plywood and various particleboard joinery) Many involved the use of relatively narrow planks sugge s that the term ‘match planes’ may be or boards merely butted one again the other. a back-formation from the term describing the A simple butt joint has its limitations, however, joinery technique. In any event, match planes exi and different forms of lap joints or rabbets, with different profiles and are made in a culminating in the tongue-and-groove joint, were variety of forms. developed to overcome some of the deficiencies.

200

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS Tongue-and-groove joints have much to commend them. By fitting one board to another by means of an integral tongue, a continuous and perfe alignment of adjacent boards is ensured.

This method also provides a continuous surface across the boards thus joined, eliminating the cracks that inevitably open between boards simply butted together. This process also provides a better prote ion from draft or du penetration.

And la ly, especially when used in combination with some form of edge ornamentation, such as a moulding or simple bead, it provides a relatively unnoticeable means of allowing for seasonal expansion and contra ion across large areas of side grain.

Whether it was a matter of paneling an entire house (and incidentally, the term originally employed to describe covering the inside surfaces of a house was ‘ceiling’, which term ultimately became limited to today’s use of the word), making partitions, or simply of covering the back or bottom of a piece of furniture, large or small, the tongue-and-groove joint was for a long time the preferred method. In fa , by the end of the 19th century, ju before the general introdu ion of plywood, beaverboard, and other forerunners of today’s gypsum wallboard coverings, the mo common form of interior wall and much ceiling covering was the thin form of tongue-andgrooved planking called match-boarding referred to earlier. Usually made of oak, quarter-sawn to resi warping, this uff was commonly no more than 1/4 in. thick. When covering large areas the tongue-and-groove joint was truly supreme.

Naturally, by this date mo tongue-and-groove material was milled by machine, but the average carpenter was frequently called upon to fabricate cu om lengths on site. Consequently, match planes were very common. Even today, when many woodworkers are equipped with shapers or ele ric routers that can quickly mill all sorts of joints, having a pair of match planes handy can be an invaluable time-saver if a short length of tongue-and-grooving is all that is required. There is no setting up, matching accuracy is built into

the tools, and the whole procedure is quick, quiet, and safe. Using a pair of match planes is an ecologically sound procedure, and one that can also provide a great deal of pleasure, as aromatic shavings curl lispingly from the bench.

A PAIR O F ONE & O T H ER VA RI E T IES ALTHOUGH INVARIABLY SOLD AS PAIRS WHEN

new, there is sufficient andardization among match planes that finding an originally matched pair is by no means essential. Indeed, although this chapter is concerned mainly with wooden match planes, it should be remembered that by the end of the 19th century there was a considerable number of single metal ‘match’ planes being made that were designed to cut both parts of the tongue-andgroove joint. In these cases, the term ‘match plane’ was, of course, a bit of a misnomer, since you can hardly have a pair of one.

By far the mo numerous are those match planes that look like common moulding planes (see fig. 229). A moulding plane is a thin wooden plane usually about 91/2 in. long, generally made from beech. (Planes dating from the 18th century are commonly somewhat longer, and may be made Tonguing plane

201

Grooving plane

fig. 229 match plane pair MATCH PLANES

PLANES

24

BADGERS & PANEL RAISERS WILDLIFE IN THE QUIET OF THE COUNTRYSIDE

A

LTHOUGH MANY WOODWORKING MACHINES WERE ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED TO SP EED

UP

EXIST ING

PRO CEDURES , I T WAS

EARLY

DISCOVERED THAT THESE

MACHINES MADE POSSIBLE NEW METHODS OF WORK NOT PRACTICAL WITH

handtools. As a result there are many basic shop procedures for ock preparation, together with various joinery operations, that have all changed considerably to refle what machines do be . This has resulted in certain once common techniques becoming less used and even abandoned in favor of more rational approaches.

Additionally, new materials such as particleboard and plywood, and techniques such as plate joinery, have made certain procedures obsolete from a ru ural point of view. A good example is frame-and-panel work, which was developed in order to solve the problem of creating large, able areas using small-sized components.

Frame-and-panel work includes a multitude of

specialized techniques ranging from mortiseand-tenon joinery, mitering, coping, mouldingmaking and its application, to panel raising and ornamental fielding. None of these is ru urally necessary when using sheet materials and plate joinery. But since ru ure is not everything, the earlier techniques are ill frequently pra ised for yli ic reasons.

A somewhat perverse situation arises when we attempt to duplicate the earlier methods with more modern tools: in ead of the job becoming easier, we are often forced into complicated and inefficient contortions trying to produce something which is simplicity itself when undertaken with the handtool originally designed for the job.

208

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

The panel is held in a rabbeted frame by applied moulding.

Tongued and beaded edges (at the sides only) disguise cross-grain dimensional changes.

The panel is held in grooves formed in the framing.

fig. 242 panel fixing

fig. 243 panel edges

Making raised panels is a good example. On the assumption that everyone has a tablesaw — and often little else — many complicated jigs and time-consuming procedures have been developed to enable the woodworker to produce fielded panels of dubious quality, when far better work could have been produced more easily, efficiently, quietly, and safely using traditional handtools.

Such tools include common items like rules, awls, gauges, and squares — all of which even the mo dedicated machine-woodworker is sure to have — and various wooden planes that might not be so familiar, but which are far from rare or impossible to find.

RAISED PANELS

&

Feathered edges all round and on both sides make dimensional changes less noticeable.

FIELDS

A PA N EL I S A P I E C E O F WO O D , S O M E T I M ES

made up of several pieces glued together to produce the required size, held in a frame. The virtue of this sy em is that while the panel is securely held by the frame and will not fall out, it is not a ually fixed to the frame and remains free to expand or contra without damage to itself or its retaining frame. Frame-and-paneling thus con itutes a way of con ru ing large able

areas for use as cabinet sides, free anding pieces such as doors, and wall paneling.

The panel may take various forms. It may be a simple re angle and perfe ly flat, or it may be curved or irregularly shaped, both in its outline and in its cross-se ion. Some panels are held in their frames by being fitted onto rabbets and kept there by applied moulding. A more common method is to fit the panel into grooves made in the inside edges of the framing (see fig. 242).

Although the panel may be no thicker than these grooves — as are, for example, du boards in good-quality cabinet con ru ion where several drawers are involved — very often the panel is the same thickness as the frame, and in order for it to fit into the grooves in the frame its edges mu be reduced in thickness. Sometimes this is achieved by forming a rabbet or a tongue around the edge of the panel, and sometimes by tapering one or both sides of the edge, often in combination with a tongue (see fig. 243).

Forming a tongue around the panel can be neater than tapering its edges since this results in a continuously flush surface between frame and panel, but it may present a problem should the panel contra : an unsightly gap may appear between the framing and the edges of the rabbet

209

BADGERS & PANEL RAISERS

PLANES

25

MOULDING PLANES WOODWORKING’S LARGEST FAMILY

M

OULDING PLANES , ONCE MADE BY THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS , ARE NOW VIRTUALLY FORGOTTEN BY MOST TOOL MANUFACTURERS , AND YET EVEN THE MOST WORTHLESS EXAMPLE IS STILL LIKELY TO SELL FOR SEVERAL TIMES ITS

original co . Some planes even sell for as much as a thousand dollars. What are these tools, why are they no longer made, and why do they ill command often impressive prices? This chapter will answer these que ions and show how despite the occasionally extremely high prices paid for certain moulding planes, mo of these curious tools ill represent a very useful and worthwhile tooling inve ment for many shops.

AN EXTENDED FAMILY OF TO OLS THE VERY FIRST THING TO REALIZE ABOU T

moulding planes is that not everything that looks

like a moulding plane is, in fa , a moulding plane.

While some of its mo obvious chara eri ics such as a narrow, wooden body about 91/2 in. long, an iron held in place with a thin, chara eri ically shaped wedge, and a generally antique appearance are also shared by several other groups of tools, these features alone do not define a moulding plane. There are many similar tools not intended for, and for the mo part incapable of, making mouldings. Some might make moulding if used in a certain way, yet may not qualify as bona fide moulding planes, since the mark of a genuine moulding plane is that its iron and sole form the profile of a shaped moulding, not ju a simple ep, rabbet, or groove (see fig. 248).

216

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

A rabbet plane always has a square profile.

A moulding plane has various profiles.

A dado plane always has a stepped profile.

fig. 248 moulding plane & look-alikes A M OULDING DEFINED I N T H E L A R G E S T S EN S E , T H E P R O F I LE O F

the edge or end of any piece of wood, especially a relatively narrow se ion, may always be described as some variety of moulding, even if it consi s of nothing more than a perfe ly square edge.

Slightly less absolute is an edge merely rounded over or given some form of bevel or chamfer. In pra ice, however,the term ‘moulding’ is reserved for a range of more ornamental and complicated profiles, many of which are formed on regular geometric principles and which are frequently grouped together in yli ic families.

217

MOULDING PLANES

PLANES

26

HOLLOWS & ROUNDS MOST COMMON

O

&

INSCRUTABLE

F ALL THE MOULDING PLANES THAT ARE STILL TO FOUND IN ANTIQUE SHOPS , AT FLEAMARKETS , AND TUCKED AWAY IN THE BACK OF MANY WORKSHOPS , THE HOLLOW PLANE AND ITS PARTNER THE ROUND PLANE ARE AMONG THE MOST

common. Together with the wooden rabbet plane (see chapter 19), hollows and rounds are among the simple -looking wooden planes, unadorned and devoid of fences, guides, brass screws, or other appurtenances. They consi of nothing but a plain wooden body, a wedge, and an iron.

Notwith anding this apparent simplicity they embody a surprising level of design sophi ication that is scarcely to be guessed at by the uninitiated.

The essential features of any given hollow or round plane — the length of the ock, its subtle chamfering and rounded back, the varying angles at which the iron may be set, and the size and shape of its sole, even the shape of the bottom end of the wedge, normally hidden from sight inside

the ock — have all been carefully developed to produce a tool that is extremely efficient and remarkably versatile If all this is hard to grasp at fir sight, guessing what these planes do, and especially trying to figure out how they are operated, can be even more of a my ery, even for someone already familiar with other wooden planes. There are no fences, there is no apparent way to guide the tool, and every tool, although similar, seems to be a different size. And yet once noticed they seem to be everywhere. Their relative abundance is no accident, but rather an indication of the important position they once held in many woodworkers’ toolkits.

226

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

The round plane cuts a hollow profile.

The hollow plane cuts a round profile.

fig. 257 hollow & round pair NAMING

&

SIZING CONVEN T IONS

AN ADDITIONAL ELEMENT OF CONF USION IS

added when it is noticed that, unlike mo moulding planes, which are named for the shapes they cut, hollows and rounds are named for their own profiles, which are, of course, precisely the opposite of the shapes they produce. Thus the plane with a convex sole is called a round plane even though it cuts a hollow, and the plane with a concave sole, the hollow, a ually cuts a round shape (see fig. 257).

Apart from being made in a range of sizes, there are also different kinds of hollows and rounds.

The mo common sort has square-set irons bedded at pitches varying between 45° and 50°.

Less common are planes with skewed irons that are usually pitched somewhat higher, around 55°.

Both varieties, raight and skewed, can be found with cutting edges ground to form different arcs.

Those that cut an arc comprising one-sixth of a circle (60° of arc) are mo numerous, but both flatter and tighter arcs also exi . The matter of sizing, which is usually indicated by a amp on

the heel of the plane indicating how many eighths of an inch wide is the profile the plane will cut, should not be confused with the shape of the arc.

For example, a plane with ‘4/8’ amped on its heel can be taken as being 1/2 in. wide, but this gives no indication of how tight or flat the profile of its cutting edge may be.

Manufa urers frequently indicated the size of the arc by noting the relative measurements in their catalogs. Some simply included a diagram duplicating the exa size and shape, and others printed tables of the sizes of the circles worked by various sizes. That these varied considerably is shown by the fa that the Ohio Tool Company found it necessary, after having absorbed the Auburn Tool Company in 1893, to publish two tables indicating the arcs cut by their own planes and those of the absorbed company.

S P E C I A LI Z ED VA RI E T I ES PLANES WITH ARCS COMPRISING MORE OR

less one-quarter of a circle (90° of arc) are called

227

HOLLOWS & ROUNDS

PLANES

27

BEADING PLANES

BEADS, REEDS,

M

&

CLUSTER BEADS

ANY WOODWORKERS HAVE SEEN THIN WOODEN PLANES MADE WITH CURIOUSLY GROOVED BOTTOMS AT FLEAMARKETS AND IN ANTIQUE STORES , AND HAVE HEARD

THE SELLER DECLARE EARNESTLY : “ THIS IS A REAL OLD MOULDING PLANE , AND it’s signed, too!” Many have probably thought to in this case a bead. Although the di in ion is themselves: ‘Mm, it might look good on a shelf in sometimes a little fuzzy, there is another broad the shop, but it’s probably impossible to use.’ They class of similarly shaped thin wooden planes that would doubtless be surprised at how easy such a do not cut mouldings, but rather are used to plane is to use once they knew how, and that far cut ru ural shapes, such as dados, rabbets, from leaving it on a shelf in the shop, gradually and various other kinds of grooves. These are all disappearing under layers of du , they might classified under the general heading of specialsoon find themselves a ually using it — and purpose planes, and are variously described in chapters 19, 20, and 23. wondering how they ever got along without it.

The moulding planes with curiously grooved bottoms referred to above are those used to cut beads, of all sizes, in various combinations, and in B E A D VARIE T I ES various locations (see fig. 268). They are called beading planes, and are true moulding planes ALTHOUGH YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT since their purpose is to make an a ual moulding, the size of the grooves on the soles of different

236

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

Side beading plane

Center beading plane

Fence

fig. 268 side & center beads

beading planes may vary, the planes otherwise may have seemed very similar. There is, however, considerable variation among beading planes; the size of the groove is merely the mo noticeable feature. Pra ically all beads formed by this group of planes, whatever their type or location, exi in different sizes, from as small as 3/16 in. to as large as 11/2 in. This is quite a range, especially when you consider that the different sizes graduate by as little as sixteenth-inch increments.

The mo common bead is the side bead (fig. 269). It has a useful ru ural fun ion as well as being decorative, and the easie place to see one is on pra ically any door or window frame made before 1930. Around the inside edges of the casing, and other places on more ornate

1/8"

architraves, side beads were used to produce a rounded edge that was both less painful to bump into and less likely to be damaged than a square edge. Where the piece of wood in que ion presents not ju one face to the world, like the door or window trim, but two, such as the corner of a bookcase, the corner made by the two faces might be treated with a return bead (fig. 270).

This is simply a double-edged side bead worked from both sides. The result is a se ion of a circle almo three-quarters complete with a quirk (the groove that defines the edge of the bead) on both sides.

The next mo common kind of bead is the so-called center bead. Despite its name, it is not necessarily in the center of anything, but rather is

3/16"

1/4"

3/8"

Graduated series of side beads

fig. 269 side beads

237

BEADING PLANES

EDGE TOOLS

28

ADZES AXES & HATCHETS THE ANCESTRAL EDGE

I

N THIS DAY AND AGE OF EFFICIENT AND RELATIVELY CHEAP MACHINERY FOR THE PREPARATORY SURFACING AND SIZING OF WOOD , THE TOOLS THAT WOODWORKERS ONCE USED TO PERFORM THESE F UNCTIONS ARE SELDOM SEEN AND RARELY USED .

But axes, adzes, and hatchets can ill be useful, as I was reminded only the other day when a friend of mine who had recently taken up carving opped by to show me something (fig. 276) he had ju ‘invented’.

“I fixed this spare plane iron to a piece of wood I picked up outside and it’s ju the thing for removing a lot of wood quickly without losing control.” He showed me a small oak branch that had grown out eeply from its parent trunk. “The acute angle allows you to fix the blade to one part and use the other as a handle. You can cut towards you and ill see precisely what you’re doing.”

I was sorry to tell him he had not invented anything, but had merely rediscovered one of the

olde tools known to mankind — the carving adze — but it was nice to refle that modern technology had not yet rendered it completely obsolete.

The adze has exi ed in various forms for several millennia. Ancient Egyptians regarded this tool so highly that the hieroglyph used for adze translates literally as ‘the able one’. Mo people ill think of the long-handled form used by shipwrights for building wooden vessels when the word ‘adze’ is used, but of all the adzes — and there has been an enormous number invented over the years, including such arcane types as the bowl adze, Brazil adze, canoe adze, chairmaker’s adze, claw adze, cleaving adze,

244

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

The blade of this commercially made adze is held to the handle by an iron ‘loop’.

Plane iron

fig. 276 home-made carving adze

fig. 277 loop adze

cooper’s adze, dubbing adze, fruit adze, gouge adze, guttering adze, ladle adze, loop adze, platelayer’s adze, saucer adze, sear adze, slotting adze, spout adze, irrup adze, trussing adze, Turkish adze, wheelwright’s adze, and Yankee adze — the short-handled adzes are the olde and mo common (see fig. 277), as well as being the type ill mo useful, like the one ‘invented’ by my friend the carver.

There is also an eponymous carpenter’s adze.

This is, in fa , the variety ill available in many hardware ores, although it is now seldom used for its original purpose. When framing timbers were ill largely hand-hewn and not regularly sawed by sawmills, house carpenters needed a tool to trim off bumps and lumps and reduce surfaces to an evenness suitable for the overlaying of roofboards or floorboards. Since this leveling process

was typically performed after the timbers were already in place, it was difficult to use an axe. The axe is more easily used perpendicularly to the worker than at the sideways angle that using it on fixed timbers makes necessary. By producing a tool whose handle emerged perpendicularly to the cutting edge, however, such leveling was made considerably easier. The relationship of cutting edge to handle is shown in fig. 278. Today, few houses are built with anything other than sawn rafters and joi s, but reflooring jobs and many renovations ill present the occasional timber or framing member that needs to be releveled, and a properly sharpened and skillfully used adze remains one of the mo efficient ways to do this.

There is a myth about adzes that is sometimes heard concerning the produ ion of hand-hewn beams. Their produ ion is often described as

The adze’s cutting edge is perpendicular to its handle.

The axe’s cutting edge is in line with its handle.

fig. 278 axe & adze blade orientation

245

AXES ADZES & HATCHETS

EDGE TOOLS

29

THE SCRAPER A TOOL FROM THE DAWN OF HISTORY

F

OR WOODWORKERS WHO DO NOT OWN A SCRAPER THE TERM IS LIKELY TO CONJURE UP AN IMAGE OF THE SIMPLEST TOOL IMAGINABLE : A FLAT RECTANGLE OF STEEL

WITH NO HANDLE , NO NU TS , NO APPARENT TOP OR BOTTOM ; A FEATURELESS PIECE of metal, with not even a particularly intere ing Bronze Age of classical times. It may seem shape (see fig. 290). Few would guess that this is surprising that a tool with such a long hi ory one of the olde tools known to mankind, and should be so little noticed in the literature of woodworking until the middle of the 19th cenmany would be surprised at its efficiency. tury, but it has more than made up for this since then. While it is true that the commone scraper is indeed the simple re angle of eel mentioned A PALEOLI TH IC P EDIGREE above, it is such a useful and basic tool that it F R E Q U EN T LY F O U N D A L O N G S I D E O T H ER has long since developed into innumerable ones used for pounding and cutting (such as the varieties, many designed for special purposes, proto-hammers, saws, and knives), the one such as the adju able scraper, machini ’s scraper, scraper (fig. 291) was one of the mo common butcher-block scraper, box scraper, cabinet tools used by the cave-dwelling people of the scraper, chairmaker’s scraper, deck scraper, glue Stone Age, a period that began three hundred and paint scraper, dumb scraper, wall scraper, oval thousand years ago, and that la ed until the scraper, moulding scraper, ship scraper, swan-neck

252

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

fig. 290 cabinet scraper

scraper, and the veneer scraper. The li could be continued, but the message should be clear: this is truly a tried and true tool.

T H E S E C RE T H O O K FOR SUCH AN APPARENTLY SIMPLE TOOL ITS

use is surprisingly little under ood. Its operation is often even more of a secret. Perhaps if the particular variety mo useful for woodworking were named a little more descriptively the secret might not be so hard to uncover. Early scrapers, and indeed many contemporary scrapers used for purposes other than woodworking, consi ed for the mo part of a blade finished in a simple sharp edge, beveled or square. But those scrapers used for fine woodworking, which are sometimes grouped together under the term ‘cabinet scrapers’, have the edge of the blade formed into a small hook. The hook is formed by the edge being turned back a very small amount, with the result that in ead of scraping — which may be thought of as a trailing a ion mo ly producing du and small fragments of the material being scraped — the cabinet scraper a ually cuts in a manner very similar to a plane, and when properly conditioned will, in fa , produce a shaving. For this reason, it is more properly referred to as a ‘turned-edge scraper’.

The turned edge is only part of the secret, however, for it is one thing to be told how a tool works but quite another to know how to use it and, in this case especially, how to fit it for use and produce the all-important but almo unnoticeable hook.

A lot of nonsense has been written concerning the corre angle at which the edge of scraper should be turned. Unless you use some form of guide, such as that described below, the art of sharpening a scraper is an indeterminate skill.

Since even the be eel will become worn with use — sometimes even after the very fir roke — the angle is con antly changing. When you gain a little experience using a properly sharpened scraper you will notice that the be shavings are produced by adju ing the angle at which the scraper is held to the wood as you go along, and that this angle depends as much on the species and condition of the wood as on the angle of the hook turned on the scraper, which in turn will also depend partly on the quality of the eel.

Nowadays, scrapers can be bought as such, and are often packaged with in ru ions regarding their use and care. But this is a relatively new phenomenon. Scrapers used to be shop-made, and much time was devoted to finding ju the right piece of metal. English spring eel — such as was used in the old Dis on™ saws engraved with ‘London Spring’ — and pieces of discarded

253

fig. 291 stone age scraper THE SCRAPER

EDGE TOOLS

30

OLD CHISELS THE SEARCH FOR EXCELLENCE

T

HE RECENT INTEREST IN HIGH - QUALITY JAPANESE TOOLS HAS PENETRATED THE ENTIRE WOODWORKING WORLD , EVEN TO THE POINT WHERE JAPANESE TOOLS ARE NOW ADVERTISED IN VARIOUS DEPARTMENT STORE CATALOGS . FOR THE AVERAGE

user, however, their quality remains difficult to judge; mo of the time there is simply no visible difference between the mo expensive and the lea expensive. But since many Japanese tools, saws in particular, are so dramatically different from their We ern counterparts, people often buy them simply for the novelty, regardless and indeed ignorant of any intrinsic quality or lack of it.

With Japanese chisels the situation is somewhat different. There is a general belief, not altogether unfounded, that almo any Japanese chisel is superior to almo any new We ern chisel. There is a lot to be said for the fa that even some of the be We ern-manufa ured chisels are furnished with pla ic handles (which is not necessarily a

bad thing), whereas the more expensive Japanese tools are provided with ebony, rosewood, and even sharkskin handles. Indeed, the handles are very often the only way for the inexperienced to account for the difference in price between one Japanese chisel and another. It is hard to deny the superiority of a tool with an exotic-wood handle over one with a handle of mundane yellow or even black pla ic. Regardless of the relative merits of the eel involved, many of today’s woodworkers are sufficiently sensitive to the e hetic and romantic aspe s of their craft that anything that speaks of quality has an indisputable appeal. Who could resi such apparent luxury? Pla ic ju does not cut the mu ard.

258

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

Tang

Socket

Bevel-edged blade

Flat or square-edged blade

fig. 298 chisel types

the cutting edges may have long since become too fat even for use as screwdrivers or openers for paint cans. But to the perceptive, a treasure trove lies at our feet for a fra ion of the price of a Sanjo, an Ichimitsu, or a Kiku Hiromaru.

Re ored to their original condition these tools are every bit as fine as a new boxed set, and, more to the point, answer our needs more closely than tools designed for another tradition. Older We ern chisels were made in a bewildering array of forms, many of them ill appropriate for mo of today’s requirements.

T YP ES OF CH IS ELS BEGINNING WITH GENERAL FORMS , WHICH

is usually all that can be discerned when you spend time looking through piles of old tools, it will fir be apparent that all chisels are either socket chisels or tang chisels. Secondly, it will be noticed that the blades of all chisels, whether socket or tang, are made either flat or bevel-edged (see fig. 298). Note, however, that gouges, which are not ri ly classifiable as chisels, have blades that are neither flat nor bevel-edged, but are EDGE TOOLS

curved in cross-se ion. This is, however, no real reason to exclude gouges from your consideration, for together with carving tools (see chapter 32) and turning tools they are equally as valuable and may be judged in the same light as chisels.

Tang chisels, and bevel-edged chisels of both tang and socket types, are intended for lighter, more delicate work than socket chisels. Since they are designed to be used with the power of the hand alone, the blades are both thinner and better suited for light, paring cuts. Socket chisels, on the other hand, with or without bevels, are built to accommodate the use of auxiliary force, such as mallet blows. It is not that the socket makes the blade any ronger — it is the blade’s thickness that does that — but the socket is designed to fun ion as a ronger ferrule and lend support to the bottom of the handle, which being made of wood could not unaidedly with and repeated heavy blows from a mallet. For the same reason the upper end of the handle may be provided with leather rings. Without these rings, which on the handles of framing chisels designed for the very heavie of all work are made of eel or iron, the handles mu inevitably splay out like an old toothbrush.

260

EDGE TOOLS

31

THE MORTISE CHISEL STILL THE BEST METHOD IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS

A

LTHOUGH PLATE , OR BISCUIT, JOINERY HAS SUCCESSF ULLY SUPPLANTED MUCH OF THE MORTISE - AND - TENON JOINERY ONCE COMMON TO ALL WOODWORK , THE OLDER TECHNIQUE CONTINUES TO BE A F UNDAMENTAL CORNERSTONE OF FINE

woodwork. Next to dovetailing it ands as one of the hallmarks of professional furniture. A neatly executed mortise-and-tenon of any variety — and there are dozens of forms of this venerable joint — is proof of the skill of the craftsman.

Although very rong and adaptable to a wide range of situations and requirements, the mortiseand-tenon joint remains largely a hand operation.

As with other traditional hand operations, it can seem inordinately difficult and laborious to the novice. There are innumerable things that can go wrong and the necessary skills, while not difficult to acquire, are seldom self-evident. The result is that many people attempting a mortise-andtenon for the fir time give up in disgu .

So many possible mi akes and so many different ways to produce a botched job might make any alternative seem preferable. Consequently, in this day and age of powertools and in ant glue only the commone forms mo easily duplicated by machine have tended to survive. Offer the beginner an easier way of joining two pieces of wood, whether it be doweling, plate joinery, or simply edge-gluing reinforced with angle iron, and he or she is likely to abandon the mortiseand-tenon forever. But with the right tools there is ill a place for this technique in even the mo modern shop.

There is no denying that plate joinery — which is essentially a powertool method of a form of

266

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

Leather washer

Socket

fig. 308 sash mortise chisel

The common mortise chisel has remained essentially unchanged since Roman times, and is chara erized by its oval bol er which, with the addition of a leather washer between it and the handle designed to absorb the shock of heavy mallet blows, supports a out oval handle, often of oak, ash, or beech. This is the tool once used

by mo carpenters and joiners for all sorts of general and heavy mortising.

The sash mortise chisel (fig. 308) is usually a socket chisel — the handle fits into a socket formed at the end of the blade, rather than the blade finishing in a bol er and tang inserted into a hole bored in the end of the handle — and is of

The curved and thickened lower end of the blade is designed as a fulcrum for levering out the waste in deep mortises.

Heel

fig. 309 lock mortise chisel EDGE TOOLS

268

EDGE TOOLS

32

CARVING TOOLS A THOUSAND TOOLS FOR A THOUSAND JOBS

U

NLESS YOU BUY THEM FROM A SPECIALTY TOOL CATALOG , TODAY ’ S WOODWORKING CHISELS ALL TEND TO BE OF MUCH THE SAME DESIGN . IT IS TRUE THAT MANY BETTER - QUALITY CHISELS MAY BE FITTED WITH HIGH - IMPACT PLASTIC HANDLES ,

whereas cheap foreign imports ill use wood, but the design of the blade is generally a kind of all-purpose, bevel-edged firmer chisel. For the amateur woodworker without a small fortune to spend on specialized tools this is terrible. He or she is forced to try to make a single compromised design do for all manner of specialized jobs. The same ubby tool is asked to chop mortises, remove sub antial amounts of wood, delicately pare finished surfaces, reach into tight corners, and scribe joints. The results are often predi ably less than optimum, and the amateur innocently assumes it is simply a lack of skill, not realizing that having the proper tool for the job is half the battle.

I shall never forget my own fru ration when I fir tried to use a common carpenter’s chisel to attempt a simple carving. I ju could not present the edge properly to the work. And I shall never forget my a onishment when I discovered that there were a ual carving chisels in a seemingly endless variety designed to help me carve any shape I might dream of. I was very young, and I am sure that mo woodworkers reading this are well aware that carving chisels and bench chisels are two different animals, but unless you are an experienced carver it is ill likely that you would be almo as amazed as I was to discover how immense is the a ual range of those tools loosely categorized as carving chisels.

274

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Back

sweep sizes

fig. 316 straight gouge, 9

The la two numbers used for raight tools describe gouges known respe ively and rather more specifically as fluters and veiners. These are very similar to gouges and can easily be mi aken as such, but close examination will reveal that their se ion is more of a U-shape than a true segment of a circle. A veiner’s sides by comparison are di in ly raight and form a channel-like se ion (fig. 317).

Fluter, 10 Veiner, 11

CURVED GOUGES

fig. 317 straight veiner, 11

A TOOL WITH A LONGITUDINAL CURVE IS

number designating a tighter curve known as the tool’s sweep (fig. 316). The sweep is a ually part of a circle; the tighter the sweep, the more of a circle’s circumference is described by the tool’s edge. Thus a number 3 raight gouge describes a very flat arc, and would need to be used many times to form a complete circle. Higher numbers describe progressively greater se ions of a circle’s circumference, so that a number 9 describes an arc forming an entire semi-circle. As with the two chisels, every sweep is made in a wide range of sizes so that it is possible to find a gouge that will match almo any size segment of almo any diameter circle.

necessary in hollowed work, as fig. 318 makes clear. Curved chisels are known but are rare and consequently are not included on the li . In general, if there is any curved work to do which calls for a flat se ion such as the inside of the shape illu rated in fig. 319, a number 12 gouge will be found adequate. As with raights, numbers 12 through 20 represent tools with increasingly tight sweeps, numbers 19 and 20 being curved fluters and veiners respe ively.

Should any of these tools be ground otherwise than raight across they are known as skew or corner tools, but this is a modification typically undertaken by the user and does not change the tool’s number or definition.

277

CARVING TOOLS

EDGE TOOLS

33

SPOKESHAVES SHAVES & DRAWKNIVES THE TAMING OF THE EDGE

I

N THE BEGINNING WAS THE ACU TE EDGE USED PERCUSSIVELY, LIKE THE AXE OR ADZE . MANY OF THE EARLIEST TOOLS USED BY STONE AGE MAN BELONG TO THIS CLASS . THEN CAME THE USE OF A SHARPENED EDGE FOR A MORE CONTROLLED USE

for what we now refer to as cutting or slicing.

Over the succeeding centuries ever more sophi icated ways of using a sharp edge were invented, fir enclosing it in some form of ock or body and then propelling it by forces other than the unaided hand. The common spokeshave occupies a position midway between the two extremes of technical development. In fa , when examined closely, it can be shown to occupy an even more central position between two great classes of cutting handtools, those of the naked blade and those of the enclosed edge.

Primary members of the naked-blade class are the drawknives. These are ancient tools whose varieties are legion, all of which, however, share

essentially the same form: a simple blade or cutting edge held transversely by a handle at each end. The tools commonly referred as spokeshaves — now seldom used for shaving spokes, at lea not the kind of spokes originally meant by the name — are dire descendants of drawknives, and may be thought of as the link between that member of the great naked-blade class and the enclosed-edge type of tool typified by the plane.

Like the drawknife, the spokeshave also exi s in numerous varieties. Together, these two types con itute one of the large classes of tools in the entire woodworking armory.

Also included in this class are tools which are neither ri ly drawknife nor spokeshave, but a

284

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

The curved blade has a single bevel and is fitted with flared handles.

fig. 329 american pattern drawknife

Tools intended for preliminary shaping operations fall into two main groups: those with curved blades, and those with raight blades. The socalled American pattern drawknife (fig. 329) is the commone of the former group and remains the tool mo often offered for sale. The blade, which may be anything from 8 in. to 14 in. long, is curved towards the user, and unlike the blade of almo every other type of drawknife is ground in a single bevel that extends from the front cutting edge to the back of the blade. An additional di in ion is that its handles are usually splayed outwards rather than being formed at an angle to the blade closer to 90˚.

This is a good, relatively easy-to-use tool. It is usually better to cut with a skicing, skewed a ion than from raight on, and the curvature of the American pattern’s blade almo guarantees this is how it will be used. It can be used for accurate paring to a line as well as being the ideal tool for removing unwanted material from corner blocks or interior framing, especially when assembly has already taken place and the pieces in que ion can no longer be taken to the tablesaw or clamped in the bench vise.

As the name implies, the drawknife was at fir intended to be used by being drawn towards the user, the work being held between some fixed support and the user’s che or else clamped in a shaving horse. A shaving horse, while ill quite common among country- yle chairmakers and enthusia s of other rural crafts, is not the kind of thing that many woodworkers are equipped with, and mo of us will only use the drawknife in conjun ion with the vise, if not dire ly on the assembled or partially assembled work itself.

The lack of any built-in guidance — which would appear at fir glance to be one of the more limiting aspe s of the drawknife — is not as great an ob acle to accurate use as you might think. As a child, I watched older woodworkers using a drawknife almo as if it were a plane, cutting as evenly and as close to the line as mo people can

The handles may be both rotated about the axis of the blade and splayed out or folded against the cutting edge for better protection in the toolbox.

Rotation

Splay

fig. 330 adjustable-handle drawknife EDGE TOOLS

286

EDGE TOOLS

34

PRE-ELECTRIC ROUTERS

THE OLD WOMAN’S TOOTH

S

& ALL HER CHILDREN

O PREDOMINANT IS TODAY ’ S ELECTRIC ROU TER THAT IT NORMALLY DOES NOT NEED TO BE QUALIFIED BY ANY ADJECTIVE SUCH AS ‘ ELECTRIC ’ TO BE DISTINGUISHED FROM

ITS HANDTOOL ANCESTOR . IN FACT, IT used to be known simply as ‘router’ now has to be described more exa ly in order to avoid confusion with its present-day offspring. Fortunately, little confusion is likely, since mo pre-ele ric routers are relatively rare and very few contemporary woodworkers have even heard of them. In any case, they bear little apparent relationship to the pra ically universal powertool of today. Before the powertool appeared, however, the name ‘router’ referred to a large and much used class of tool. Many of these were specifically named to di inguish them one from the other, but as a class we may now more conveniently refer to them as ‘hand routers’ or ‘pre-ele ric routers’ unless using their original specific name.

IS THE OTHER WAY AROUND : THE TOOL THAT

WHAT ROU TERS D O THE WORD ‘ ROU T ’ AS USED IN CONNECTION

with woodworking is thought to derive from the ‘rooting about’ that pigs do when they burrow into the surface of the ground with their snouts, looking for food. Hand routers did something similar when they were used to form trenches and slots in the surface of wood. Ele ric routers do much the same thing when they are used to cut dados, grooves, and various slots; but modern routers also perform operations previously achieved by a variety of other handtools such as

292

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

Iron Depth adjuster

Auxiliary sole

Workpiece Screw hole for attaching auxiliary sole

fig. 341 router plane

resetting the iron and wedge, and little visibility is possible as you work, consequently requiring very careful setting out. Nevertheless, having one handy and preset to a particular depth can often be quicker than setting up a plunge router.

Their immediate successors, the numerous metallic versions introduced in the 19th century, were a va improvement and can do things a plunge router cannot. The Stanley™ model known as a router plane (fig. 341) has a cutting iron that can be easily adju ed up and down by means of a vernier wheel, and some models have graduated cutters and a removable depth op.

The area being cut always remains visible through a hole in the tool’s sole, and some models are open-throated at the front. Furthermore, when working opped depressions the cutter can be reversed to face in the opposite dire ion so that you can work the tool into a corner inaccessible by a plunge router. For working particularly wide depressions it is sometimes possible to attach a wider wooden sole to the base, thereby increasing its span. As with powertools, fences are available to guarantee raight-sided cuts or to follow curved work. But perhaps the greate advantage of a router plane lies in its use of differently shaped cutting irons. Some are square, some are skewed, and some are V-shaped. This makes it possible to rout out depressions of variously EDGE TOOLS

shaped circumferences, particularly square and acute-cornered depressions. And if, for whatever reason, you wanted to duplicate the round-ended depressions made by a plunge router’s circular bit, it would be eminently possible to grind a cutter to the required shape.

Mo router planes are about 71/2 in. wide, but smaller, 3 in.-wide models (fig. 342) may be very useful for narrow work such as ringing and inlay, and are especially popular with musicalin rument makers. The irons of these smaller models can also be cu om-ground and reversed to accommodate both through and opped work.

294

The 3 in.-wide sole has been cut away to show the iron.

fig. 342 small metal router plane

EDGE TOOLS

35

CHAMFERING DEVICES ‘CANTUS FRANGERE’

W

HEN A CHAMFER IS CALLED FOR THERE ARE TYPICALLY ONLY THREE TOOLS TO CHOOSE FROM IN MOST OF TODAY ’ S SHOPS : AN ELECTRIC ROU TER , A HAND

PLANE , AND A DRAWKNIFE . THERE WAS A TIME , HOWEVER , WHEN CHAMFERS could be made with an ease and exa ness difficult or edge equally on both sides of the original arris. to achieve with the handtools mentioned above In the case of an edge formed by the interse ion by using any one of numerous specially designed of two surfaces at 90° to one another this results tools, each guaranteed to produce nicely executed in a chamfered surface that is at exa ly 45° to chamfers for a variety of circum ances. Many of both surfaces. But — and it is important to bear these tools are ill to be found and might be used this subtlety in mind — a chamfer formed at the yet if their fun ion were properly under ood. arris of two surfaces meeting at any angle other But before describing the tools it will help to than 90°, although extending equally into each surface, will no longer be at 45° to them, but rather under and precisely what a chamfer is.

Although the word ‘chamfer’, which entered will form an angle greater or smaller according English via the Old French: chan fraindre, derives to the angle of interse ion of the two surfaces from the Latin expression: cantus frangere, which themselves (see fig. 349).

This explanation should clear up two common means literally ‘to break an edge’, its present meaning is much more precise than any random misconceptions regarding chamfers: fir , that broken edge. ‘To chamfer’ means to bevel a corner they are merely any beveled arris which may or

300

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS Chamfer (x = x) formed on a 90˚ arris

x

Arris

x

90˚

Chamfer (x = x) formed on a non-rectilinear arris

x

may not extend equally into each surface; and second, that they are simply and always a bevel of 45°. ‘Bevel’ is the term for any sloping edge. While a chamfer may also be described as a form of bevel, a beveled edge is not necessarily a chamfer unless it extends equally on both sides, whether in so doing it meets these faces at 45° or not.

The various tools and devices developed to form a chamfer on a given arris therefore have this in common: that they produce an equally disposed bevel. More than this is not always true. For in ance, it cannot be taken for granted that any given chamfering tool is also convenient way of creating a bevel of 45°.

The under anding that chamfering is an ornamental and often pra ical design element used for many materials, such as one and metal, should make it less than surprising that the use of chamfers is also common to very many branches of woodworking, all of which have developed their own means of creating them.

CHAMFER PLANES x

115˚

Bevel (x =/ o).

(The angle at which the surfaces intersect is irrelevant.)

o

x

THE LARGEST GROUP OF CHAMFERING TOOLS

is that composed of the various chamfer planes used by joiners and cabinetmakers. Included in this group are some of the more sophi icated devices ever devised for making chamfers, and indeed one particular model, the metal version once made by the Stanley Tool Company, has the di in ion of being one of the mo complicated and expensive planes in the entire woodworking world, commonly selling at au ion for more than a thousand dollars, although when fir put on sale a hundred years ago it co only three dollars, even when offered with extra beading and moulding attachments.

STOP CHAMFER PLANES LONG BEFORE JUSTUS TRAU T PATENTED THE

fig. 349 bevels & chamfers

improvements which gave birth to the Stanley™ 301

CHAMFERING DEVICES

BORING TOOLS

36

BORING TOOLS BRADAWLS TO BEAM BORERS

W

HEN WE THINK OF BORING , THE ELECTRIC DRILL COMES TO MIND . THIS TOOL HAS SEEN SOME INTERESTING IMPROVEMENTS IN RECENT YEARS , MOST NOTABLY THE INTRODUCTION OF CORDLESS VARIETIES . ALTHOUGH INFREQUENT OR

irregular users may find the requisite recharging schedule inconvenient, it cannot be denied that liberation from the tool’s previously essential umbilical cord is a very great advantage.

Contemporary technology has thus brought the form of the tool full circle; once again it is possible to bore or drill from high up on a ladder or in tightly cramped crawl-spaces without the con raining tangle of power cords. While it is true that the ele ric drill offers the benefits of increased power, it should not be forgotten that before its introdu ion holes were made wherever and however needed with a variety of handtools specially adapted for various tasks. Many of these tools can ill be found, and familiarity with them

can prove very advantageous when a power drill, cordless or otherwise, is unavailable.

To avoid any confusion with terms that are sometimes synonymous and sometimes not, the following differences in usage — which are more conventional than ri ly logical — should be noted: Both ‘boring’ and ‘drilling’ mean the same thing — to pierce or make a hole — but when metalworkers refer to a ‘drill’ it is the a ual drill bit that is usually meant; when woodworkers say ‘drill’ they usually mean the tool that holds the drill bit. Woodworkers normally specify the bit more exa ly than do metalworkers, referring, for example, to an auger bit or a drill bit, as the case may be. Thus, in this chapter, when the word

310

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

Head

Head, containing extra bits

Head, containing extra bits

Crank Handle

The double spiral allows the shank to rotate in the same direction whether the handle is moved up or down.

fig. 366 archimedean drill

The rotation of the bit changes as the drill is alternately pushed and released.

fig. 367 push drill

19th century awareness of the Archimedes screw water pump, which raises water by means of a rotating screw, commonly used in the Levant.

The Archimedean drill consi s of a spiral shank rotated by a usually wood-covered nut that is moved up and down the shank. Since the drill turns in both dire ions, the bits used are made also to cut in both dire ions. The chief advantage of this drill is that being small and slender it is admirably suited for use in confined spaces where the use of an auger, a brace, or even an ele ric drill would be difficult or impossible.

One improvement over the basic Archimedean drill was a type fitted with a ratchet in the handle BORING TOOLS

The rotation of the bit is determined directly by the rotation of the crank.

fig. 368 hand drill

allowing the drill bit to revolve in one dire ion only. From this type, with its obvious advantages over the bow drill, it was a small ep to the double-spiral Archimedean drill (fig. 366). The double spiral, together with a reversing device in the handle, enables a con ant forward motion to be maintained regardless of the dire ion in which the handle is being moved. These tools, once quite common — the Stanley Tool Company marketed a ‘reciprocating’ double-spiral Archimedean drill for a considerable time — are now rare but the principle behind them lives on in today’s spiral ratchet drill and screwdriver. In fa , the modern push drill (fig. 367), mo commonly exemplified

314

BORING TOOLS

37

BITS & PIECES MORE THAN BORING

A

BIT IS A TOOL USED IN A DRILL OR A BIT BRACE TO BORE A HOLE . THERE ARE MANY BITS THAT DO OTHER THINGS AS WELL , SUCH AS REAMING , COUNTERSINKING , AND TURNING SCREWS , BU T IN GENERAL THE TERM ‘ BIT ’ IS UNDERSTOOD TO REFER TO

a tool that makes a hole. The a ion of making a circular hole is generally referred to as ‘boring’, but some people also use the term ‘drilling’. The former term implies a rotary a ion, whereas the latter term originally implied the simple piercing of material whether by circular boring or any other method.

Since the mo usual tool used by the woodworker for making holes is known as a drill, to talk of drilling is quite under andable, if also sometimes a little confusing, especially when drill bits are confused with drills. And to make matters worse, the metalworker calls all his bits ‘drills’, whereas the woodworker under ands ‘drill’ only to mean the tool that holds the bits.

AVOIDING CONF USION THE CONF USION CAN PERHAPS BE AVOIDED

if we re ri the usage of the various terms as follows: Let ‘boring’ be the verb used to describe making the hole — with whatever tool and in whatever fashion; let ‘drill’ be the noun referring to those tools — such as the ele ric drill, the cordless drill, or even the Archimedean drill — that hold and operate the bits; and reserve ‘bit’ or ‘drill bit’ for the accessories that a ually cut the holes. The only exception to this sy em is that class of boring bits known as twi drills.

322

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

Brass frame Ebony infill

Sliding chuck

fig. 377 framed ‘ultimatum’ bit brace THE BI T BRACE ONE OF THE QUINTESSENTIAL EMBLEMS OF

woodworking along with the plane is the oldfashioned framed brace (fig. 377). Since the advent of the ele ric drill, and especially since the development of the cordless ele ric drill, the bit brace, or brace as it is more usually referred to, has very nearly disappeared from the average toolbox.

With it has gone the amazing sele ion of bits that were designed for a wide variety of jobs, to be largely replaced by the high-speed spade bit and twi drill. There is no denying the efficiency of a completely portable powertool, unfettered by extension cords, that can be carried anywhere and operated with one hand, and which is equally useful for boring holes or driving screws. But as with many modern powertools, a certain amount of sophi ication has been lo along the way in the pursuit of speed and ease of use.

Despite the almo complete abandonment of the brace for the ele ric drill, many people are ill familiar with the andard ‘iron’ brace, now usually made of eel (see fig. 375, chapter 36).

Fewer may be familiar with its predecessor, the wooden bit brace, even if images of traditional, hand-crafted woodwork are conjured up. But very few indeed would recognize any of the bits these

tools used and may ill use to advantage. Speed and power are not everything, and more than one woodworker has been fru rated by a low charge or a dirty or worn variable-speed trigger on the ele ric drill causing the bit to plunge wildly out of control and damage the workpiece ju at that moment when something of a certain nicety was being attempted. Furthermore, not all holes are intended to be created equal. The wide sele ion of special-purpose bits that can be used in a brace can make possible boring operations that are difficult to differentiate with an ele ric drill, or even its more powerful cousin, the drillpress.

Braces are ill plentiful and cheap. They are designed with a wide variety of chucks to hold the bit, and many are also equipped with ratchets to allow the dire ion of rotation to be controlled.

Nevertheless they are all easily under ood if disassembled, and it is not hard to judge the quality or usefulness of any brace under consideration, even at a fleamarket or yard sale.

THE MYSTERY BI TS BIT- BRACE BITS ARE MORE OF A MYSTERY, however, especially as they tend to be dirty, ru y, mixed up with a lot of other unidentifiable tools

323

BITS & PIECES

BORING TOOLS

38

THREADING TOOLS SCREW BOXES

T

&

WOOD TAPS

HREADED METAL ROD IS NOW SO UNIVERSAL AND EASILY OBTAINABLE THAT THE USE OF WOODEN THREADS IS RARELY SEEN . NOT SO LONG AGO , HOWEVER , AN ALMOST ENDLESS VARIETY OF THINGS WERE ASSEMBLED , ADJUSTED , AND USED WITH THE

help of wooden threads. Many woodworkers are no doubt familiar with wooden-threaded handscrews, mo of which have now been replaced commercially by the Jorgensen™-type handscrew (fig. 13, chapter 2) which uses metal threads, and many others have probably seen old woodworking benches fitted out with vises operated by large wooden threads (see fig. 4, chapter 1). But ju as common when these items were new were wooden threads used in cider presses, printing presses, the adju able arms of plough planes, broom handles, drawer knobs, lathe poppets, all types of furniture including early knock-down fittings such as bed parts, and a ho of other everyday items.

The two tools used to make these threads, the screw box and its partner the wood tap, are simple and easily made, as proved by the fa that as many user-made examples survive as do models made commercially. They may ill be used by the average woodworker with great effe and can often add that extra something to an otherwise run-of-the-mill proje .

As with many other basically simple tools, the screw box is of great antiquity and its origins may be traced far back into the classical world.

Archimedes, a Greek who lived around 250 b.c., is credited with the discovery of the principle of the screw, Pappus of Alexandria recorded a method of designing threads in the 4th century, and the

330

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

Upper block

Block-securing screws

Bottom block, slightly separated

fig. 384 screw box

found around the hole. The bottom block is fitted and held to the upper block with screws or with fri ion-fitted dowels (of which care should be taken when attempting to separate the parts), enabling it to be easily removed — for reasons explained below. It is also likely to have a shallow mortise or hole bored in its inside face to receive the end of the cutter-holding clamp, the which protrudes from the upper block.

Attaching-screw hole

THE UPP ER BLO CK THE UPPER BLOCK , WHICH IS CONSIDERABLY

larger, is bored with a hole of the same diameter as the intended thread root (the diameter of the threaded rod as measured across the bottom of the threads), which is then tapped to the required size (see fig. 385). Since wood is not as able as metal, clearances between threaded rod and tapped hole

Cutter

Hook bolt

Tapped hole diameter

Chip slot

fig. 385 upper block BORING TOOLS

332

MISCELLANEOUS TOOLS

39

STRIKING TOOLS ‘HAMMAR’ & ‘ MALLEUS’

J

UST AS THERE ARE MANY SYNONYMS FOR STRIKING DEPENDING ON THE SEVERITY OF THE BLOW, FROM GENTLE ‘ TAPPING ’ TO VIGOROUS ‘ POUNDING ’, SO THERE ARE ALMOST AS MANY NAMES FOR THE TOOLS DESIGNED TO INFLICT THESE BLOWS . F URTHERMORE

not only the intensity of the blow but also the precise arena in which it is wielded gives rise to another set of classifications, with the result that this single class of woodworking tools probably contains more members than any other. The li may be nearly endless, but among those that come immediately to mind are the ball-pane hammer, blacksmith’s hammer, brickie’s hammer, claw hammer, carpenter’s hammer, coal hammer, cobbler’s hammer, cross-pane hammer, engineer’s hammer, fiber hammer, lath hammer, lump hammer, panel-beater’s hammer, pin hammer, planishing hammer, pla erer’s hammer, plumber’s hammer, rubber hammer, slate hammer, sledge hammer, tack hammer, toffee hammer, wooden

hammer, square mallet, round mallet, bossing mallet, dresser, bending dresser, commander, bobber, and snatch. The li could go on and on. One current di ionary* li s over a hundred types; the number of more obscure, obsolete, and forgotten types is far greater.

If we re ri our discussion of this huge group of tools to those used in woodworking, however, we can divide the majority into two main groups: those with wooden heads and those with metal heads. Mo members of the former group are now known as mallets, and those of the latter are * R. A. Salaman. Dictionary of Tools used in the woodworking and allied trades, c. 1700‒1970. London 1975

338

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS PANES Straight pane

&

P EENS

IF THE OPPOSITE END FROM THE HAMMER ’ S

Crowned face

fig. 393 warrington-pattern hammer

predominance. Originally made in a wide range of sizes and weighing from 5 oz. to 33 oz., but now generally available only in a couple of middling sizes, the Warrington-pattern joiner’s hammer with its well-designed head and wooden handle is a joy to use.

face ends in a relatively thin wedge-like shape it is called in Britain a paned hammer; in America it is called a peened hammer. In both places it may also be referred to as a peined hammer, pronounced either as ‘pane’ or ‘peen’ depending on the user’s preference. The origin of this curious word is obscure, but while there may be sound etymological reasons for both ‘pane’ and ‘peen’, ‘pein’, which gives fir -time users pronunciation pains, is a 19th century manufa urer’s invention and might be usefully ignored.

Both cross and raight panes are useful for arting small nails, although in fa their real purpose is for hammering out metal in ways not possible with a round face. An extension of this fun ion has led to the provision of some tools with an almo spherical face (at the opposite end from the regular face), known perversely as a ball ‘pane’ — although round ‘face’ would be more accurate, since a pane is by definition wedgeshaped (see fig. 394).

Straight pane

Cross pane

Ball pane

fig. 394 paned hammers

341

STRIKING TOOLS

MISCELLANEOUS TOOLS

40

BENCH-TOP ACCESSORIES THE SECRET WEAPONS

I

F YOU WERE INTRODUCED TO WOODWORKING THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF THE TABLE SAW AND THE ROU TER , YOU ARE PROBABLY ACCUSTOMED TO USING THESE TOOLS TO

PRODUCE FAIRLY EXACT WORK . APART FROM REQUIRING LESS EFFORT TO USE THAN many traditional handtools, modern powertools working with a beautifully made wooden handare also capable of nice adju ment and accurate tool, whatever the romantic associations that may use. Calibrated fences, graduated depth- ops, be conjured up by handling something that one of and other built-in guides all help in producing ye erday’s craftsmen may have used, whatever the consi ently raight and square work. The very very real advantages regarding an operation not thought of attempting to saw or to cut something possible with more modern tools, if you have the by hand and producing a cut as nicely accurate as idea that you will simply not be able to do the job something passed across the tablesaw supported to a sufficiently high andard you are likely to by accurately aligned fences and miter gauges can abandon the attempt.

Even a cursory look at the fine furniture made seem impossibly difficult unless you have spent before ele ric tools became common is enough to years pra ising such a skill.

The imagined difficulty of readily obtaining the convince mo people that accuracy was far from accuracy comparable to that possible with power- unattainable. But the general assumption is that it tools often discourages many people from using was achieved only after long years of grinding handtools. Whatever the attra ions might be of apprenticeship and a pain aking development of

346

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS Square kerf (may be angled for miter cuts)

Dust groove (may be enlarged to hold round stock)

fig. 399 bench hook

hand skills for which few people today have the time. It is, however, only partly true that many of the exquisite antiques we classify as Chippendale, Hepplewhite, Sheraton, Empire, and so on, were the result of years of accumulated hand skills.

What is not generally under ood is that the woodworkers who created these pieces did not simply rely on ‘crude’ handtools and years of skill, but also commonly employed a whole range of jigs and accessories to make their use of these tools easier, and to guarantee a level of accuracy every bit as fine as we expe and rive for today.

Many of these jigs are extremely simple to make and to use. Having a few of them around will often provide an alternative to the sometimes hard choice of whether to launch into a fully fledged operation on a ationary powertool such as a tablesaw, with all the necessary setup that may be worth while for a large job but which can be annoyingly time-consuming when there is only one small piece to cut, or to attempt the risky proposition of undertaking the job by hand in a fra ion of the time but with less than guaranteed results.

SAWING JIGS PERHAPS THE COMMONEST GROUP OF EASILY

made jigs that will guarantee success when using

handtools are those employed in various sawing operations. Chief among these is the bench hook (fig. 399). In its simple form it consi s of a small table with a lip at each end. The lips are arranged on opposite sides so that one lip ‘hooks’ onto the bench top and the other forms a op again which the work may be held securely.

Its primary use is to hold a small workpiece securely when being sawed, without having to clamp or otherwise secure the piece. A flat board, about 9 in. wide by 1 ft. long, with 2 in.-square lips is easily made. Somewhat different proportions may also work well and merely be the result of using whatever scrap is handy to make the jig. Experience will soon demon rate certain advantages that minor changes can offer, such as making the back hook — the piece again which the work is held — somewhat larger and perfe ly true in relation to the bed of the bench hook. If a saw cut is made, through this hook down to the level of the bed, that is perfe ly perpendicular, both to the plane of the bed and the back of the hook, the bench hook will serve as a reliable and square cut-off guide for the saw when trimming short pieces. This can be easier and safer than running very short pieces through the tablesaw.

Similarly, if the end of the back hook is made perfe ly square, the side of the bed can be used as a small shooting-board to trim short se ions; the square end of the hook will fun ion as an exa op.

Logical extensions of this idea include extra kerfs made in the back hook to guide differently angled cuts, including regular and irregular miters. This is a very common use for the bench hook. Consequently, position any nails or screws that you might use to attach the back hook only in places where such guide kerfs are not likely to be made. Remember that if the hook is attached only with such fa eners, rather than being glued in place along its entire length, a kerf made outboard of the end fa ener will necessarily allow the la piece of hook to fall off! In any event, a clearly marked line indicating the position of the fa eners may save you the embarrassment of

347

BENCH-TOP ACCESSORIES

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS

* SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY T

HERE ARE SO MANY BOOKS ON THE SUBJECT OF WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS THAT TO ATTTEMP T A COMPREHENSIVE LISTING WOULD SERVE LITTLE PURPOSE

HERE . MOREOVER , IN THIS COMPU TERIZED INFORMATION AGE THERE ARE SO many avenues open to anyone who would look that specialized searches are easier than ever and can produce more up-to-date and complete results than any single book’s necessarily fixed bibliography. What follows, therefore, is a li of books that I have particularly enjoyed. Some of these titles are relatively obscure while others are common to many bibliographies, but all are especially pertinent to the further udy of traditional woodworking handtools — if sometimes somewhat contradi ory — and will provide further insights into the subje , from both an in ru ional andpoint as well as one of pure entertainment.

Eaton, Reg. The Ultimate Brace: A Unique Product of Victorian Sheffield. Heacham, England: Erica Jane Publishing, 1989.

— The definitive illustrated study of one of the true handtool aristocrats.

Gaynor, James M., and Nancy L. Hagedorn. Tools: Working Wood in Eighteenth-Century America.

352

G

raham Blackburn was born and educated in London, England, before moving to New York City to continue his studies at the Juilliard School. While subsequently pursuing a career as a professional musician, he built his own house in WoodTock, NY.

His firT book, illustrated housebuilding, was published in 1974. Since then he has written and illuTrated sixteen books on building, woodworking, and sailing. He has also published two works of ficion.

A long-time columnist for Popular Woodworking and a contributing editor to Fine Woodworking, he also served as the editor-in-chief of Woodwork magazine before founding blackburn books and launching the DVD Video Magazine, Woodworking in Action.

Also by graham blackburn in the illustrated workshop series: the illustrated encyclopedia of woodworking handtools instruments & devices traditional woodworking techniques furniture design & construction

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

WWW.SPRINGHOUSEPRESS.COM

CRAFTS & HOBBIES/WOODWORKING $29.95 US

Discover the Joy of Working with Handtools F

or quality results and the joy of hands-on work, the leisurely, contemplative approach of using handtools is replacing the need for the speed, noise, and sense of detachment that often comes with using power tools. To that end, Traditional Woodworking Handtools presents woodworking’s most essential handtools along with a description of what each one does and how it’s used. Responding to the demand for tried-and-true handtools, Traditional Woodworking Handtools is the user’s guide no woodworker should be without.

Inside you’ll discover: • Over 400 original hand-drawn illustrations • Clear descriptions of all the essential handtools needed for your workshop • Detailed techniques for using and mastering each handtool from clamps and saws to planes, chisels, and drills • Engaging anecdotes and fascinating historical information • A full Bibliography and helpful Appendices

ISBN 978-1-940611-03-7

www.springhousepress.com